SUN PRAIRIE, WI, U.S.A.
U.S. ARMY
CWO, TROOP D 1ST SQDN, 17TH CAV (TF LIBERTY) FORT BRAGG, NC
05/27/2005, BUHRIZ, IRAQ
Sherri Scott knew a good man when she saw one. “The night I met Josh I told my girlfriends, ‘I’m going to marry that man,'” she said. “They all laughed. Three years later we were married.”
Chief Warrant Officer Joshua Michael Scott, a 1995 graduate of Sun Prairie High School, enlisted in the Army immediately after high school, in what family members say was the culmination of a lifelong dream to serve in the military. A few years after his high school graduation, Joshua Scott took a troubled boy under his wing. Scott became the boy’s legal guardian five years ago, and the child lives with Scott’s wife and children.
Melissa Scott, a younger sister, recalled watching her brother build forts and play Army games as a child.
“This was what he wanted to do, even before he knew about it,” she said.
Joshua Scott arrived in Iraq in November with the 17th Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, NC.
Just before heading overseas, Scott and his wife, Sherri, celebrated the arrival of their third child, a boy named Kross. The couple met at Sun Prairie High School and were married in 1999.
Chief Warrant Officer Joshua Michael Scott, 28, of Sun Prairie, WI, died May 26 when the helicopter he was flying came under attack and crashed in Buhriz. He was based at Fort Bragg, NC.
“He had the ability to be tough as nails at work, and when he came home he was a marshmallow dad,” said Chief Warrant Officer Mike Rutledge, who attended flight school with him. “He loved his family more than he loved his work.” FSG Randall Pierce said Scott was “a leader’s dream” who had a passion that inspired others to follow his example. “People just gleaned confidence from him,” Pierce said. “He was a rare breed. A very rare breed.”
“He was very proud to serve his country,” said Sherri Scott. She added that his children were the top priority in Joshua Scott’s life. He believed joining the U.S.-led mission in Iraq would make their world more safe.