Fayetteville resident Staff Sergeant Scott C. Rose was killed Friday 7 November 2003 near 
Tikrit, Iraq when his US Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter was shot down by an SA-16 missile.  
Scott was the Crew Chief on "Goat 26431" as they affectionately called his helicopter; he 
was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division based 
at Fort Campbell, KY.   Three of his fellow crew, all of them very close friends, and two 
soldiers from another unit were also killed.  He is survived by his wife, Michele (Basso) 
Rose originally of Springfield, VT and their daughter, Meghan Louise Rose who was just born 
31 July 2003 at Fort Campbell; SSG Rose had hoped to return on leave to see his new daughter, 
born after his deployment to the war zone. His unit will not return from Iraq until February 
or March 2004.  Scott Christopher Rose was born 2 March 1973 in Attleboro, MA attended Lewis 
Chappel in Fayetteville and college at North Carolina State University where he met his wife.  
He is also survived by his parents both now of Fayetteville, North Carolina, LTC (Ret) Alfred 
"Butch" F. Rose originally of Pawtucket, RI and Karen (Burgess) Rose originally of Attleboro, 
MA. Also grieving are Scott's Sister Mrs. Heather (Rose) Edge wife of Daniel "Wesley" Edge 
and their daughter Sarah Emilie Edge of Cedar Creek, Fayetteville, NC. Scott's only surviving 
grandparent is Mrs. Virginia (Bora) Burgess of Bristol, RI.  A superb military memorial service 
was held at Fort Campbell, KY on 13 November 2003. On Friday 21 November in Springfield, VT 
visitation for family and friends will be at Davis Memorial Chapel at 2-4 PM & 7-9 PM. A Catholic 
Requiem Mass at St Mary's in Springfield, VT will take place at 10:00 AM the next morning, Saturday 
22 November, followed by a farewell with full military honors. Funeral arrangements through Mr. 
Bill Young at Davis Memorial Chapel, Springfield, VT phone (802) 885-3322. A memorial account has 
been set up in the name of SSG Rose to the benefit of his daughter, Meghan Louise; Bryant Credit Union phone (800) 578-5024 attention Rhoda Stevens: account# 31730 wire 
routing #211691428. Bryant Credit Union, 380 River Street, Springfield, VT 05156.
 
Son, husband, father and soldier hero. A "Mayflower 1620" descendant of Richard Warren, 
a descendant of Rhode Island civil war veterans, a grandson of a Coast Guard aviator who 
also died on active duty ... and who also had nicknamed his aircraft "Goat"; Scott was 
also a grandson of an immigrant from the Azores, of a great grandmother who had been 
orphaned in London in 1896, of an Irish Catholic great great grandfather who was a Colonel 
of RI militia and fought for the cause of Irish freedom.
 
Awards: 
 Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Air Medal (3d numeral), Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement 
Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Order of St Michael.
 
Assigned as: Crew Chief of "Goat 26431" UH-60L Blackhawk; Company and Battalion Flight 
Standardization Instructor and Squad Leader of 1st Flight, Bravo Company, 5th Battalion 
101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. His battalion commander called him "the 
most experienced Crew Chief in the unit; had the best leadership reputation among the crews."
 
Fellow aviators killed with him that day:
CPT Benedict Smith born 10 Oct 1974 in Swenke, MO
CW3 Kyran E. Kennedy born 30 Oct 1960 in Boston, MA
SSG Paul M. Neff born 9 Oct 1973 in Columbia, SC



The mission on 7 November was a two-ship mission to transport command and control personnel 
from Mosul to Tikrit, Iraq.
Goat 26431 was the lead aircraft and began its approach by turning south over the Tigris River 
swamps and to avoid dangerous built-up areas. They had been flying at 130 knots at varying 
altitudes and formations until turning south for their approach to the designated  landing zone. 
As they slowed slightly and decended to approximately 280 feet above the ground, the helicopter 
suffered a direct hit by an SA-16 missile fired from about 2km away. The missile struck the left 
fuel cell and the explosion was catestrophic. The crew of the trail aircraft, only 2x rotor 
distance away, could plainly hear the impact of the weapon strike and see the flames erupt from 
the cockpit area. All six passengers and crew were lost. 



Scott became an avid student of North Carolina history and served as a volunteer docent at Museum 
of Cape Fear in Fayetteville. Scott is well remembered by his friends from Livorno High School 
in Italy, and by the "Old Lancers" ... men who flew UH-1 in Viet Nam era and who visited the 
current unit at Ft Campbell. During their stay, Scott was a willing volunteer escort and driver. 
He related the tales these men had to tell and enjoyed their company. One of them had been 
corresponding with Scott at the time of his death. We met at the memorial service at Ft Campbell. 
It was obvious that Scott's loss was painful to them all.



Attending high school in Italy while his father was assigned there, Scott was Captain of the 
wrestling team and he also played soccer. He was in the drama and forensic speaking clubs.
He graduated #2 in his class and attended NC State on a full Navy Scholarship. He got his wish ... 
orders to Pensacola Florida for flight training. However, he decided that family life was more 
important than his dream of flying F-14s and turned down the orders.
 
Scott joined the Army to fly and be a family man. However, the world situation turned sour ... 
and he was deployed neary continuously from Bosnia to the NCO School in Virginia and immediately 
to Iraq. Scott badly wanted to join his unit which was already over there. Within a short time 
of arrival, he had already logged more flight hours in Iraq than most of the pilots. At the time 
of his death, he had 1841 flight hours logged and though junior in rank, recognized officially as 
the best crew chief and was Standardization Instructor NCO or SI in the 5th Battalion. The 
"Tom Cruise" of the Lancer flight line, he loved his work ... he loved to teach others ... 
he was one of those rare great men ... soldier, leader, husband, father .... our son.