Scott B. Smith
* October 3, 1934 + July 11, 2023
Scott Beecher Smith was born in Buffalo, New York, the only child of Charles Isaac Smith and Julia Beatrice Woods Smith, both natives of Canada. Scott grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut. In 1952, he graduated from Roger Ludlow High School where he lettered in basketball and baseball, was president of his class, elected to the National Honor Society, and attended Connecticut Boys State.
At West Point, a cadet in Company B-1, Scott played baseball and basketball and served all four years on the Public Information Detail as its Features Editor. Academically he did well, standing 116 of 480 on the graduation Order of Merit List.
Upon graduation, Scott was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers. After the Basic Course at Fort Belvoir, and airborne training at Fort Benning, he went for his first troop assignment to the 13th Engineer Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, in Korea. Subsequent assignments were with the 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division and as instructor in the division’s Airborne School.
In 1961, Scott attended the University of Illinois for graduate schooling and received a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering. After attending the Career Course at Fort Belvoir, Scott was assigned to the U.S. Army, Europe, as the Special Troops Engineer in Heidelberg. After a year in that job, he was reassigned as commander of Company A (Airborne), 12th Engineers, in the 8th Infantry Division.
In January 1967, after graduating from the Command & General Staff College, Scott went to Vietnam as advisor to the Vietnamese Joint General Staff based in Saigon. Subsequent to that assignment, he reported as a student officer to the British Staff College in Camberley, England.
Scott returned to Vietnam in January 1969, where he served as G-4 of the 9th Infantry Division and then as commander of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 8th Engineer Battalion. During his 10-month command, the 8th Engineer Battalion took part in the Cambodian incursion and saw heavy combat. When his helicopter was shot down, three of the occupants were killed while Scott, and three other men, sustained wounds.
After the Vietnam tour, Scott was assigned to the Pentagon’s Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. He served first in the War Plans Division and then as Assistant Executive to the DCSOPS, General Richard Giles Stilwell.
In 1973, Scott attended the Army War College. While at Carlisle, he also earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Penn State.
In June 1975, Scott married Winifred Leonore Nehring-Griffin in a ceremony at the West Point Cadet Chapel. Winifred (Wendy), was a science policy analyst with the Congressional Research Service in Washington D.C. Their son, George, was born in Huntington, West Virginia, while Scott served as Huntington’s District Engineer. In 1982, Scott adopted Chana, one of Wendy’s daughters by a previous marriage. Chana’s younger sister, Zeenalee, did not join the family at that time but continued to reside and study overseas.
After three years in Huntington, Scott served successively as CO of the 1st Cavalry Division’s DISCOM at Fort Hood, the FORSCOM Engineer in Atlanta, and as Assistant Division Commander (M) of the 7th Infantry Division at Fort Ord.
A three-year assignment as Division Engineer of the North Central Division, in Chicago, followed. One year commanding the Corps of Engineers’ Europe Engineer Division and three more years as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Engineering for USAREUR completed Scott’s extensive overseas service. His final two years on active duty were as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Atomic Energy). Scott retired as a Major General in 1989.
Throughout his career, Scott’s decorations for valor and achievement included the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, two Legions of Merit, five Bronze Star Medals (one for valor), the Purple Heart, 20 Air Medals (one for valor) and four Army Commendation Medals (one for valor). In addition to several Vietnamese awards, Scott was awarded the German Bundeswehr Honor Cross in Gold.
After retirement, Scott first worked for the Coors Brewing Company in Colorado. During his 10-year tenure, he resolved in very favorable terms a multi-million dollar Superfund lawsuit against the company. After Coors, Scott became CEO of the Western Research Institute in Laramie, Wyoming. He spent the next seven years with this energy-research-oriented institute until becoming Executive Director of the Institute for Security Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He held that latter post for five years until retiring in 2011.
During the post-army years, Scott and Wendy started and operated a ranch west of Laramie, Wyoming. They bred Merino sheep, Trakehner sport horses and English Pointers. In later years, both Scott and Wendy wrote books, a children’s dog detective trilogy and historical novels respectively, while Scott rendered further public service as a member of the Wyoming Veterans Service Commission, as Wyoming Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and as National President of the 1st Cavalry Division Association.
Memoria De valens vivat tamque vestri
Funeral Service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Friday, July 21, 2023 at Trinity Lutheran Church. Interment will follow at Greenhill Cemetery. Military Honors by the Wyoming Army National Guard.
I served with General Smith in the G-4 Office, 9th Infantry, in Dong Tam, Vietnam in 1969. I am thankful for that experience...One day a fellow enlisted soldier in the office received a Red Cross message that his father had died. Then LTC Smith told me to take the soldier to see the chaplain. Watching the effect of the chaplain's ministry to this young soldier planted a seed in me. After Vietnam, a return to college and Seminary, I returned to the military as a chaplain. Rest in peace General Smith. God bless all who serve in the military...
General Scott B. Smith was a man of integrity. Honourable, decent and loyal, a valorous top soldier whose admirable belief-system was based on character and long experience, he had plumbed the depths of human iniquity without compromising his own faultless moral code. They're lucky to have you up there, Scott!
Jacques, Your thoughtful words touched me deeply. Thank you. Yours, Winifred
Liebe Winifred, herzliches Beileid und Glückwuwunsch für die fantastische Video-Dokumentation, die mich tief beeindruckt hat und Scott in meinem Herzen immer weiterleben lässt. Alles Liebe dir, einer so tapferen Frau. Dein Günter aus Stuttgat.
Lieber Günter, Vielen Dank für Deine mitfühlenden Worte. Deine Winifred
Mrs. Smith, It is with great sadness that I learned of your loss. It was an honor to serve as Geneal Smith's aide-de-camp in 1979-80 at Fort Ord, California. I kept up with his amazing career and your travels/adventures after military retirement. I learned a great deal from him that I have put into action as a career Army officer (retired 1999) and a headmaster/president of private schools for these 25 consecutive years. All the best, Mike Hughes, Ph.D., LTC, U.S. Army (Ret.)
Mike, Thank you for your kind and thoughtful words. My husband spoke of you often. He would have been so pleased to learn of.your contribution to the furtherance of young people’s minds in your later years. Winifred Smith, aka P.P.K. Stone “The Last Train to Berlin.”
Wendy and George, I am sorry for your loss. Scott was a great man! I worked for/with him when he was at Western Research Institute (WRI). I always felt that he had his finger on the pulse of WRI and that he cared for the well being of his employees. He came in and took charge of the leadership of WRI and ruled it with an iron fist and whipped the place back into shape. I am forever grateful for his leadership and friendship. Rest in peace General Smith. Morena Wroblewski and family (Tom, Travis, & Mitch)
Moore a, Please know how much we appreciate your kind words of condolence. My husband thought highly of you— your energy, loyalty, and enduring friendship . Affectionately, Wendy and George
Scott Smith was a great soldier and an even better person. I observed that he always put others before himself and I'm sure that the soldiers that served with him over the years would agree. I knew him long after his retirement and through the 1st Cavalry Division Association where he served as a member of the Board of Governors, Vice President and finally as the Association President. Condolences to his family and many friends. See you at Fiddler's Green, Sir!
Dennis, Thank you very much for your condolence message. As you know, my husband’s heart and soul lay with the Ist Cav. He would have been deeply touched by your kind and thoughtful words. Garryowen! Yours, Winifred Smith
It is with great sadness that i did not get to spend time with scott before he passed. I enjoyed our time at Warriors Coffee he will be greatly missed.
Becky and Chris, Thank you for your kind words and the red, white, and blue flowers you so thoughtfully placed at the altar section of the church. My husband valued your friendship, Chris, and your devotion to the coffee group. Yours with much appreciation, Winifred Smith