Scott Speicher
| Michael Scott Speicher | |
|---|---|
Speicher in 1990
|
|
| Born |
12 July 1957 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | January 17, 1991 (aged 33) Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq |
| Buried at | Jacksonville Memory Gardens, Orange Park, Florida, U.S. |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Navy
|
| Rank |
 Captain (posthumous)
|
| Unit | VFA-81 Sunliners |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Purple Heart |
Michael Scott Speicher (12 July 1957 – January 17, 1991) was a United States Navy pilot who was shot down over Iraq during the Persian Gulf War. He was the first American combat casualty of the war. His remains were not recovered until 2 August 2009; his fate had not been known until then.
Michael Scott Speicher was born in Kansas City, Missouri on 12 July 1957. Scott and his sister went to Lakewood Elementary School and Eastgate Middle School before attending Winnetonka High School.
When Scott was 15, his family moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where he attended Nathan Bedford Forrest High School. After graduating from high school, he then attended Florida State University. Scott graduated from FSU in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in accounting and business management. While at Florida State University, Scott met Joanne, whom he eventually married.
Scott's father had been a fighter pilot in World War II and went on his first airplane flight when he was five years old. When he was a teenager Scott was a cadet member of the Civil Air Patrol. Upon graduation from FSU, Scott joined the United States Navy and attended Aviation Officer Candidate School at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. After flight training at various bases, he was designated as a Naval Aviator and spent several years as both a Fleet squadron aviator in the A-7 Corsair II and F/A-18 Hornet and as a flight instructor on the F/A-18 Hornet. By the early 1990s, Scott had attained the rank of lieutenant commander and was stationed at Naval Air Station Cecil Field near Jacksonville, Florida. He was assigned to VFA-81 (nicknamed the "Sunliners"), aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. At the time of his deployment to the Iraq theater, Scott and Joanne had a 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.
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