In Memoriam

Scott F. Milley '09 As long as you were with him, you felt you'd be fine By Anne Downey '95G

Scott Milley '09 decided to be a soldier at the age of 3, when he got a pair of camouflage pajamas. And he became the consummate soldier—he was smart, disciplined and strong, and it was his nature to put others first. Footage of him during his ROTC training at UNH shows a young man in his element, confident and energetic, with a gleam in his eye. When he was killed in Afghanistan in November, family and friends drew comfort from the fact that he died while living out his dream.

Milley was born in Sudbury, Mass., the younger brother of Steven Jr. and Ashley '08. As a boy, he was athletic, mischievous and fun loving. His friends remember that he always made life an adventure. If getting to a favorite fishing spot meant wading through a swamp, he insisted on carrying his friends through it, flinging them over his shoulder. At Lincoln-Sudbury High School, he played lacrosse and was captain of the hockey team. "He was the most lovable kid I ever coached," Peter Elenbaas says. "He combined the toughness of a prizefighter with the effervescent joy and energy of a teenage boy. He was truly a treasure."

At UNH, Milley was a psychology major and played rugby. He was named ROTC's Distinguished Military Graduate his senior year. Despite the serious nature of his ambitions—he was determined to volunteer for combat—he retained his fun-loving spirit. It was Scott who persuaded his friends to grab sleeping bags and spend the night in the woods in the middle of February. As long as you were with him, they felt, you were going to be fine.

After graduation, he was selected for the Army's Ranger school, a particularly grueling program. He joined the 10th Mountain Division and requested to be sent to Fort Polk because he knew that they'd be shipping out to Afghanistan first. Part of the division's mission was to develop relationships with the Afghans, and Milley was great at it. He greeted the villagers in their own language and made friends with the governor.

On Nov. 30, a month into his tour, Milley was killed when his patrol came under small-arms fire. Thousands of people in Sudbury lined the streets in the bitter cold as the motorcade bearing his body travelled the 15 miles from Hanscom Air Force Base to his home.

"He always made the choice to do the right thing and be the best he could be," says Maj. Douglas Fortier, assistant professor of military science at UNH. "He knew that nothing about our freedom is free. None of us can thank him enough for what he did."

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