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Everyone who knew <em>Francis “Scotty” Adams</em> remembers him with love and affection. He was born in New Jersey, but his family moved to their native Scotland when he was about 6. He received a fine education at the Strathbungo School in Glasgow that prepared him for the rigors of West Point academics. Even more important for his cadet career, he became a highly skilled soccer player on championship teams and was selected as an All Star player.</p>
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WWII intervened as he was growing up, and it was 1948 before his family resettled in Kearny, NJ.</p>
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Shortly before his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the Regular Air Force. After training at Keesler AFB as an air traffic controller, he stayed on as an instructor with his “50-mission hat,” bolstering the unflappable image for which he was famous.</p>
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Scotty received an RA competitive appointment to West Point while at Keesler AFB. Then, in 1950, he went to the USMA Prep School at Stewart AFB, NY, where he met many of his fu­ture classmates. There, he was a squad leader, pla­toon leader, and the soccer coach.</p>
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Life at Stewart Field consisted of intense train­ing in academics plus athletics to prepare the mind and body for the all-day competitive exam given in March 1951. At the end of that long exam day, one of his classmates wandered into the base chapel to offer thanks. The other person in the chapel was Scotty—there for the same purpose.</p>
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At West Point, Scotty really came into his own. His outgoing and witty personality made him one of the most popular men in the class. Prior Air Force service gave him more maturity than the av­erage plebe. Not intimidated by the system, he was considered “BJ.” A natural scholar, he ben­efited from his time at Stewart Field and made achieving good grades look easy. He wore stars his Cow year, graduating 16th in a class of 470. De­spite many other activities, he found time to help other cadets struggling with academics.</p>
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Though he was barely 5’6” tall and weighed 140 pounds, his size was no handicap on the soc­cer field, where he left a lasting mark. As a Plebe, he played A Squad soccer and helped coach the Plebe team. He lettered all 4 years at West Point with 3 stars for victories over Navy and was a 3-time All American and team captain his Firstie year. In one game, Scotty was facing away from the opposing goal, when he took a pass toward him. Without looking back, he jumped up and kicked the ball backward into the goal. He was probably Army’s best player ever.</p>
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Joe Palone, the soccer coach for many years, wrote that, “Scotty was not only the best soccer player I ever coached, but a fine and respected man. The years he played for me, we had our best seasons. We won 31 games and lost only 4.”</p>
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Scotty made time for other activities besides soccer, including the Cadet Chapel Choir and Glee Club, and was unforgettable as “Pearly” in the 1955 <em>100th Night Show</em>.</p>
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He was gifted in other sports, but swimming was not one of them. Scotty could not float; he just sank slowly to the bottom of the pool! It was a long struggle for him to pass the mandatory swimming require­ment so, to compensate, he became a swimming team man­ager for 4 years.</p>
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Scotty was commissioned into the Air Force and, after primary training in Florida and North Carolina, went to Laredo AFB in Texas for basic pilot training.</p>
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In April 1957, he was asked to be best man at classmate Chuck Gersitz’s wedding at the Post Chapel at West Point.</p>
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When he arrived, some mem­bers of the wedding party were missing, so he quickly drummed up 6 First Classmen from the Class of ‘57 to form the saber arch after the cer­emony! Scotty stayed on as an instructor pilot at Laredo and married a petite brunette named Carol Burr in February 1958, enabling Chuck to return the favor as best man.</p>
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In August 1958, Scotty attended Syracuse Uni­versity for graduate study, earning a master’s de­gree in geography in 1960. Now a captain, he went to West Point as an instructor in economics and international relations in the Department of Social Sciences. During this tour, he was a popular and highly regarded officer, continuing in his love of soccer as the OIC of the cadet soccer team.</p>
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On 4 Dec 1963, Scotty and Norb Glidden, an­other classmate stationed at West Point, took out a T-33 jet trainer for a proficiency flight from Stewart Field. Over New Hampshire, there was trouble with the aircraft. To avoid civilian casual­ties on the ground, they delayed ejection until it was too late. Both were killed instantly.</p>
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That same day was daughter Margaret’s 4th birthday, and Scotty had invited some of his friends to a small party for her after work. Wrap­ping paper and other preparations were evident when the Superintendent and another classmate came to notify Carol of the accident. She was dev­astated by his death.</p>
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His funeral was held at the Cadet Chapel two days later, followed by interment in the Post Cem­etery. It was a life full of potential, cut short.</p>
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Scotty was a loving and devoted father who adored his children. His death was a special trag­edy for them. He is survived by his wife Carol, then-pregnant with their third child, Ian; son Scott, 2 years old at the time; and daughter Mar­garet, 4 years old at the time.</p>
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Scotty, your presence continues in the Long Gray Line; it was only yesterday that you stepped into the shadows. “Grip hands!” “And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”</p>
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<em>His classmates and daughter Margaret</em></p>