Roy Scow was born July 1896 in Manhattan, Montana, on his family’s homestead. Prior to joining the Army, he worked for the railroad on steam locomotives and even planned to return to his job after the war.
He enlisted in the Army in June 1917 and served with the 163rd Infantry Regiment in France. While fighting, an exploding German shell landed right in front of Scow. The blast from the impact caused him to have a concussion and lose his hearing. Despite his injuries, he returned to duty and discharged in August 1919.
Scow received a Silver Star, a Purple Heart and the French Medal of Honor. He returned to the railroad but was eventually let go of due to his hearing problems. He went on to train as a shoemaker and opened his own shoe shop in Manhattan.
After the war, Scow continued to stay active in Veteran associations and joined the Disabled American Veterans, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. He married and went on to have nine children.
He passed away at 107 in April 2004. Scow’s interview with the Veteran’s History Project is at http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.00923/.
We honor his service.
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Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s #VeteranOfTheDay social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.
It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to newmedia@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.
Veterans History Project
This #VeteranOfTheDay profile was created with interviews submitted to the Veterans History Project. The project collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war Veterans so that future generations may hear directly from Veterans and better understand the realities of war. Find out more at http://www.loc.gov/vets/.
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Just a comment from another Vietnam Veteran. I am 100% disabled and served in Vietnam, 1967-1968 (MOS 11F50), ranger with MACV Recondo, and 20+ missions with the 5th Special Forces, Nha Trang. Almost all of OUR missions were in Cambodia. I was wounded 3 times plus severe PTSD. All of my requests for additional help have been denied for one reason. President Nixon had ALL records of any campaign which took place in Cambodia to be destroyed. There are no longer any records of combat activity in Cambodia except for Nixon bombings and subsequent attacks after the bombing raids.
Do you have contact with any other veterans who served with you on any of these missions?? Is there anyone who could write you “buddy letters” validating they were there too – where you where. What you did ??? Those letters can support your claim.
Ray’s loss of civilian employment due to hearing loss on active duty, presented an opportunity to mention
USERRA, a law passed to protect military personnel returning to their civilian employer.
Under USERRA, Ray’s employer would have found him another position where his loss of hearing
(sustained during active military service) could be accommodated, or where it wasn’t an issue.
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/vets/programs/userra
We honor the service of Roy Scow.