Remains of Oklahoman killed in Vietnam to be returned to family
TULSA — Ron Scott had already been warned what it meant if a military vehicle pulled up in front of a service family’s house.
His mother had told him.
So, on the day it finally happened at theirs, “I understood that something bad was coming,” said Scott, who was 12 at the time.
The “something bad,” in this case, was the news that Scott’s father, Air Force Col. Martin Ronald Scott, had been in a plane that had gone down in Vietnam, and was now officially missing in action.
Today, after more than 50 years of wondering for sure what happened, Ron Scott and other family members at last know the truth.
Recently, the remains of Ronald Scott, who died when his plane was shot down in March 1966, were recovered and identified.
They will be flown back to Tulsa next week.
The family has known for years that the crash site had been found and has received periodic updates on recovery efforts from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
But they didn’t know for certain Scott’s remains were there until they were officially identified.
“I think this is a great outcome,” Ron Scott, a Claremore resident, said.
He praised the efforts of the POW/MIA Accounting Agency: “Those folks do a bangup job.”
He said DNA provided by his father’s sister, Patricia Daniels, was key to helping authorities make the identification. Daniels, of Berryhill, died last year.
Martin Ronald Scott — who was known by his middle name “Ronald” or as “Scottie” — was born in Jenks and graduated from Webster High School in Tulsa.
He was a champion wrestler at Webster, and went on to be part of a national championship wrestling unit at the University of Oklahoma.
He joined the Air Force in 1954.
In Vietnam, he served with the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing.
According to the POW/ MIA Accounting Agency, on March 15, 1966, Scott, commander and wingman of a two-seater F-4C aircraft, was on an armed reconnaissance mission over northern Vietnam when his pilot flew down to fire at enemy vehicles on the ground.
The flight leader, in another aircraft, saw an explosion and immediately tried to contact Scott’s plane. No parachutes or emergency signals were seen, and all attempts to contact Scott and his pilot were unsuccessful. An organized search was not possible due to hostilities in the area.
Ronald Scott left behind his wife, Ozella, and three sons.
The family was living in Victorville, California, where he had been based before going overseas, when they received the news.
Ron Scott remembers the car stopping in front of their house, and a chaplain, a commanding officer and one of the squadron wives getting out.
His mother told him to go outside.
“So, I did. I went for a walk,” he said. “I gave them about 15 minutes, then I went back. Then my mom told me my dad was missing.”
Ronald Scott had been due to return to the states in May, just two months later, his son said.
The “not knowing” left the family in a state of emotional limbo, he said. His mother soon moved them back to the Tulsa area to be close to family.
Ron Scott said he accepted a long time ago that his father was probably dead.
“I kind of put it to rest,” he said. “That was the only way I could deal with it.”
His way of dealing has included, over the years, talking to men who knew his father, including members of his squadron, some of them former prisoners of war.
Especially meaningful was meeting his dad’s crew chief — the man who strapped him into his plane before that fateful mission.
He said the family is thankful to all the people who have supported them through the years, many of whom still wear MIA/POW bracelets with Ronald Scott’s name on them.
One of the bracelet wearers is a woman in England.
“I’ve never met her,” Ron Scott said. “She’s just a lady who thought she could do something in support. She’s worn the bracelet for 50 years.”
“We want to contact as many of those people as we can to let them know, try to give them closure,” he added.
Ronald Scott’s widow, Ozella, died in 2005. He is survived by two of his sons, Ron Scott and Mark Scott.
A graveside service for Ronald Scott will be held 2 p.m. Sept. 22 at Woodlawn Cemetery in Claremore. Rice Funeral Service in Claremore is handling arrangements.