West Point Class of 1987

The West Point Association of Graduates is sad to inform the Long Gray Line of the passing of Lieutenant General Willard W. Scott, Jr. (Retired). General Scott served as the Military Academy’s 52nd Superintendent from July 1981 to July 1987. He was 82 when he passed away at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, following a long illness. A member of the USMA Class of 1948, General Scott was also an advisor (formerly trustee) emeritus of the Association of Graduates. A funeral mass for General Scott is scheduled for 1900 hrs, 5 January, at the Good Shepherd Church in Alexandria. Arrangements for burial services at West Point are being developed.

The thoughts and prayers of the Long Gray Line are extended to the family of General Scott, one of West Point’s most passionate supporters and leaders.

Obituary provided by General Scott’s family:

Lieutenant General Willard W. Scott, Jr. (Retired), the 52nd Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, died yesterday at his home in Alexandria, Virginia. He was 82.

Gen. Scott, who was the superintendent of West Point from 1981 to 1986, died in his sleep from a form of Parkinson's disease. In a long and distinguished career in the U.S. Army, Gen. Scott was the commanding general of MACV troops in Vietnam, the 25th Division, based in Hawaii, and 5th Corps in Germany.

The highlight of his career, though, was his time at West Point where he was known as an ardent supporter of Army football and an inspiring leader of the cadets. His signature feat while superintendent was to ride an army mule, West Point's mascot, up and down the sidelines during football games to rally support for the Army team. In honor of Gen. Scott's enthusiasm, the Association of Graduates of West Point voted to name a mule, known as General Scott or Scotty, after him.

Gen. Scott graduated from West Point in 1948 and commissioned in the Field Artillery. Over his Army career, he received the Distinguished Service Medal, two Legions of Merit, two Bronze Stars, the Air Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, and two Commendation Medals.

Gen. Scott was born into an Army family at Fortress Monroe (now Ft. Monroe), Virginia. His father served in the coast artillery and fought in World War II. While a child in San Francisco, he was part of a contingent of school crossing guards who walked across the Golden Gate Bridge on the day it opened in 1937. At West Point, Gen. Scott met his wife of 60 years, Justine Scott (nee Dorney), and they raised seven children while moving around the world in military service.

Gen. Scott served in Germany immediately after WWII, and his first command was Alexander Hamilton's "Dog" Battery of the 5th Field Artillery Battalion. It was during the Vietnam War that he was awarded his first star, and served as MACV commander from 1970 to 1972. He went on to command the 25th Division, known as Tropic Lightning, from 1976 to 1978. He commanded 5th Corps in Germany from 1980 to 1981, at which time he was selected to head West Point.

After his retirement from the Army, Gen. Scott served as the executive director of the Association of Military Colleges and Schools in the U.S. from 1988 to 1997. He also was an associate at the Institute of Defense Analysis, a think tank that focuses on defense issues, from 1987 to 2005. He was a member of West Point's Board of Trustees, the Association of Graduates, and he served as president of the West Point Society of D.C. In 1998, he was awarded the Castle Memorial Award in honor of his efforts to support the military academy.

Gen. Scott served for many years as a lector and religious education teacher at Good Shepherd Parish in Alexandria, and he was president of the Woodlawn Manor Association. Gen. Scott also was a member of the Field Artillery Association, the Army Historical Foundation, the Association of the U.S. Army and the Army War College Foundation.

He is survived by his wife, Justine, his children, Mary Starner, of Springfield, VA, Elizabeth Raveche, of Hoboken, NJ, Warren Scott, of Canberra, Australia, Catherine Rosenshein, of Montclair, NJ, Susan Shanahan, of Honolulu, HA, Margaret Scott, of New York, NY, and Ann Marie Kilkelly, of Hanover, PA, 25 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.