By Rod Duren
Lieutenant Randy Scott, a Physician Assistant here at the Naval Branch Health Clinic at Corry Station, returned in June from a recovery mission to the Central Highlands of Vietnam. He was among five teams of personnel selected with specialized skills that were searching for Americans missing from war.
Scott was the medical officer on one the five Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) teams that returned in June after recovering remains believed to be U.S. service members and helping to identify six future excavation sites.
The Navy physician's assistant, raised in a rural farming community in North Carolina, volunteered for the mission because he felt strongly about it. "As long as there are service members (that remain) missing in Vietnam, we should continue to search in order to bring them home to their families," he said.
The JPAC teams scoured four provinces within the Central Highlands - from the jungles to the remote mountainous regions where "likely none of the locals had ever been." It was the area during war time that had been known as the demilitarized zone or 'DMZ.'
The recovery teams go to sites previously identified by investigational teams as having a high likelihood of American service member remains present. Sites are selected on "real-time" Search and Rescue log entries, witness accounts from either U.S. forces in the area at the time of the crash or locals through subsequent interviews, Scott said.
After surveying the area with metal detectors and combing through vegetation, materials found would be delivered to an Air Force Life Support Equipment expert who would "try to determine if the equipment correlated with the reported incident, and if any of the material supported the possibility of American remains being present," he continued.
"From a medical perspective, my role was to provide medical advice and care to the team, which fortunately mostly consisted of monitoring individuals for heat injuries, encouraging hydration and taking care of the occasional bump, bruise or case of diarrhea.
"Most of my time was spent digging into the sides of the mountains with a small hand tool, searching the areas in which metallic objects were detected," the physician assistant said.
The search areas were in the mountains and often required helicopter transport to a prepared landing zone which would be placed as close to the site as possible. More often than not, "we were required to hike our gear up the mountain or mountains to get to our site.
"We logged a lot of hours trekking up and down the mountains with 40-to-60 pounds of gear on our backs in 100-plus degree heat," Scott said. "When packs got heavy and the terrain got tough, I would simply remind myself that the members that we were searching for fought a war in (similar) conditions and for a much longer time than we were in country. That split-second reminder had a way of putting things into perspective and making it much easier to press on," he said.
Navy Lt. Randy Scott (left of center with backpack) and members of the JPAC team take a break along the way up one of the mountains in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The JPAC team was in Vietnam on an MIA mission to relocate and return the remains of US service members from the Vietnam war.
"This was one of the most rewarding experiences of my 25-plus years of service. Just to know that our country, deep in the throws of a war at this time, is still making a tremendous effort to bring our fallen heroes home makes me proud.
"When I think of how our Vietnam veterans were often overlooked, mistreated and sometimes forgotten, I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I am saddened and humbled by the sacrifices that they made for our great nation, but am extremely proud to have been able to contribute in a small way toward bringing them home to rest. But the job still isn't done. Teams are in country right now, pressing on with these searches. To honor these heroes and bring closure to their families, I hope the search continues until they are home."
Scott was the second staff member from the Naval Hospital Pensacola command to go on an MIA mission within the last year. Capt. Tom Kersch, head of the family practice department, took an excursion into Cambodia in the summer of 2004 and returned with remains. JPAC has not confirmed any identities from either of these two missions.
The Fairmont, NC, native - a statewide vice president of the Future Farmers of America while attending Fairmont High school -- got his first taste of medicine from the town's now-retired veterinarian, Dr. Milton Jordan. In his 25 years in the Navy, he spent 12 as a preventive medicine technician.
The Pensacola clinic's Officer in Charge, Cmdr. Holly Bennett, said that when Scott returned in late June that the look on his face told it all ..."showing so much satisfaction" for the job accomplished.
Prior to reporting to the Corry Station clinic 23 months ago, Scott was with the Marine's Chemical Biological Incident Response Force at Indian Head, Md., and was intimately involved with the response teams to the anthrax scares that rocked senate offices in Washington, DC.
"He was the first Navy lieutenant I'd ever seen - in over 17 years of service - to be awarded a Meritorious Service Medal (for duty at Indian Head) from the Marine Corps," said Bennett.
"His love, and devotion, is for the Marines," said Bennett, "and he even speaks their language."
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