Warbird Information Exchange

From The Macon Telegraph


Posted on Mon, Feb. 27, 2006
BREAKING NEWS: Brig. Gen. Robert Scott, midstate war hero, dies today at 97Fighter ace wrote 'God is My Co-Pilot'By Gene RectorTelegraph Staff WriterWARNER ROBINS - Retired Brig. Gen. Robert L. Scott, who packed more adventure in his life than any 10 people, according to his closest friends, died early this morning, a Robins Air Force Base official said. He was 97.
Scott, a native of Macon who grew up along Napier Avenue, rose to nationwide prominence during World War II, first as a fighter ace in the China-Burma-India theater then as author of "God is My Co-Pilot," an account of his wartime exploits. The book was later made into a 1945 feature-length movie.
Scott - who retired from the Air Force as a brigadier general - never lost his "fighter ace" prominence and later used that fame to great effect in supporting Middle Georgia's Museum of Aviation.
"He's been our resident hero, cheerleader and biggest fan," said Pat Bartness, museum foundation president and chief operating officer. "He's been the biggest drawing card we've had. Without him, the museum would just be a different place and not as exciting. He will be sorely missed."
When Scott joined the museum staff in the mid-1980s, he had accomplished more than most people dream of, according to museum director Paul Hibbits.
"Because of that, his impact has not only been local but national," said Hibbits. "I've run into people all over the country who have asked me about him. His being part of the museum has opened a lot of doors for us. He's added a lot of credibility. He put us on the map."
For more information, come back later today to macon.com
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Farewell & Blue Skies to a wonderful person & a true Hero.
Robbie

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Fly Fast Make Noise!

darn!!!!!!!!! Another of my heroes "gone west".

He was as nice a guy as I have ever met, went out of his way to
make my family feel welcome and at home at the museum.

Owen

I sent a copy of "God is My Co-Piliot" to him for his autograph a number of years ago and he gladly signed it. God's speed general!

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

A little more on Gen Scott;


Author of "God is My Co-Pilot" diesAssociated PressWARNER ROBINS - Retired Brig. Gen. Robert L. Scott, author of "God is My Co-Pilot," died early Monday. He was 97.
Scott, a native of Macon, rose to nationwide prominence during World War II, first as a fighter ace in the China-Burma-India theater then as author of "God is My Co-Pilot," an account of his wartime exploits.
The book was later made into a 1945 feature-length movie. Scott - who retired from the Air Force as a brigadier general - never lost his "fighter ace" prominence and later used that fame to great effect in supporting Middle Georgia's Museum of Aviation.
"He's been our resident hero, cheerleader and biggest fan," said Pat Bartness, museum foundation president and chief operating officer. "He's been the biggest drawing card we've had. Without him, the museum would just be a different place and not as exciting. He will be sorely missed."
When Scott joined the museum staff in the mid-1980s, he had accomplished more than most people dream of, according to museum director Paul Hibbitts.
"Because of that, his impact has not only been local but national," said Hibbitts. "I've run into people all over the country who have asked me about him. His being part of the museum has opened a lot of doors for us. He's added a lot of credibility. He put us on the map."
Scott's story is the stuff of legend: He flew a homemade glider off the roof of a three-story house at age 12 and crash landed on a spiky Cherokee rose bush. With the Flying Tigers, he earned five of his 22 aerial victories in May 1942 when he flew more than 200 hours in combat.
He won three Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Silver Stars and five Air Medals.
Scott had to tell a couple of little white lies to get into the fight against Japan. At 33, he was considered too old for combat when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and he expected to stay at his training job in California.
Then came a phone call.
"One night about 3 a.m., the phone rang. A man asked `did you ever fly a B-17,' Scott said in a 1996 interview. "So I said yes, I have flown a B-17. But I never had. I got my airplane and went to work."
He was assigned to a mission to bomb Tokyo from China - but the plan was scrubbed, so his job reverted to flying planes loaded with gasoline and ammunition over Japanese-held territory to Gen. Claire Chennault's "Flying Tigers" in China. Scott later wangled his way into the legendary unit.
Scott was an outspoken proponent of an independent Air Force. His stance didn't make him popular at the Pentagon, where he was assigned after the war to a board studying whether to create a separate Air Force.
Scott's public support for independence got him ousted from the board.
"They exiled me to Arizona to command a fighter-bomber wing," Scott said. "I considered that a promotion."
In the mid 1980s, he was a retired widower getting lonesome in Arizona. Then, the museum called and asked for memorabilia.
He had a picture that was too big to mail, Scott said, so he delivered it in his car. He stayed on and works for the museum as its official fundraising chairman and unofficial piece of living history.
"I'm thinking about writing a new book,'" Scott said in 1996, as autograph seekers approached him, "and calling it `You Can Go Home Again.' "
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My father grew up in Macon GA, & as a young man before WWII he worked as a routeman for a laundry & drycleaners there. Gen Scott's family were one of his customers, & he knew Robert Scott back then. Well my dad & the General both went off to war & my father had not seen Robert Scott since then. About 5 or 6 years ago we had a function here at Epps Aviation, & being a friend of the Epps family, Gen Scott was invited & attended. I had brought my dad out that night, & he went over & spoke to Gen Scott. Having not seen each other since WWII in Macon GA Gen Scott looked up & called my father by his first name. I bought fell over. I can't remember names of people I knew in high school much less 50 years ago. Amazing!
Regards
Robbie

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Fly Fast Make Noise!

He had quite an amazing career.

For better or worse(Depending on whether you ask my wife) it was his book, God Is My Co-Pilot, that was given to me when 30 years ago when I was 8 that sparked the warbird bug in me.

In addtion to God Is My Co-Pilot he also wrote several other books, including one that was published in the late 70's detailing his extrodanary and often overlooked air force career after WWII. Defintely worth it if you can find a copy at a used book store.

Of all the of the greatest generation that have passed away recently this one seems to hit the hardest

Steve S

Sad to hear this news. After reading God Is My Co-Pilot ,
I read his The Day I Owned The Sky which tells more of his life.
An amazing individual. He signed both of my books
"To my friend... " He may have done this on all his signings,
but it meant a lot to me.

Bill

More From The Macon Telegraph;


Robert L. Scott Jr., 1908-2006Brig. Gen. (retired) Robert L. Scott Jr., who died Monday at age 97, was a true original.
Born in Waynesboro in 1908, he grew up in Macon and returned to Middle Georgia in 1987. Gen. Scott was blessed with an adventurous mind, varied skills and abundant civic spirit:
• Although he graduated near the bottom of the West Point Class of 1932, he eventually wrote a dozen books, some best-sellers translated into several languages. His autobiographical "God Is My Co-Pilot" became a hit movie, premiering in Macon in 1945. He later headed a television production company. He received a Governors' Award for the Humanities in 2003.
• He spent teen-age summers working his way to Europe on tramp steamers, then around the world. At age 72, he fulfilled a youthful dream by traveling the entire length of the Great Wall of China on foot and by camel. At 81, he flew at Mach 2 from the back seat of a F-15.
• A military pilot from 1933 on, he flew P-12s and collected orchids in Panama, then trained pilots in California. Told he was too old (33) and too high-ranking (colonel) when he volunteered for combat, he headed a C-47 group in the China-Burma Theater, flying the dangerous "Hump" route across the Himalayas to supply Gen. Claire Chennault's "Flying Tigers."
When that outfit phased out after America's entry into the war, Scott became the first commander of the 23rd Fighter Group which succeeded it. He led 388 combat missions personally, shooting down 22 Japanese planes himself in a shark-nosed P-40 named "Old Exterminator."
• He was a persistent advocate and publicist for air power both to win wars and to prevent them. Returning from China a bona-fide hero, he was assigned to tour the country giving morale-building speeches. Training jet pilots through and after war's end, he later commanded a jet fighter-bomber wing in Germany.
Promoted to brigadier general, he headed the Information Service of the USAF for two years, But in 1957 he retired - "fired," he said, by then-Secretary of Defense Charles Wilson for "pushing too hard for air power."
• He entered a second career in Arizona as an insurance executive, author and television producer. His wife, the former Catherine Rix Greene of Fort Valley, died in 1972.
• His return to Macon in 1987 found him in a third career, as a developer, fund-raiser, advocate and volunteer for the new Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base. He remained active and energetic well into his 90s. At age 88, he was one of the Olympic torchbearers through Middle Georgia.
With his death, America and Middle Georgia lose a unique personality who served country and community faithfully and well, while never losing his zest for experience.
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I have to read his books. What a life!
Robbie

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Fly Fast Make Noise!

I heard he had over 33,000 hours.