32 Facts About Scott Speicher

Michael Scott Speicher was a naval aviator in the United States Navy who was shot down over Iraq during the Persian Gulf War becoming the first American combat casualty of the war.

Scott Speicher's fate was not known until 2 August 2009 when the US Navy reported that Speicher's remains had been found in Iraq by the United States military.

Scott Speicher is the most recent American to have been shot down in air-to-air combat.

Michael Scott Speicher was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on 12 July 1957.

When Scott Speicher was 15, his family moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where he attended Nathan Bedford Forrest High School.

Scott Speicher graduated from FSU in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in accounting and business management.

Eighteen months after Scott Speicher went missing in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, friend and fellow US Navy pilot Buddy Harris married Joanne.

Scott Speicher's father had been a fighter pilot in World War II.

Scott Speicher went on his first airplane flight when he was five years old.

Scott Speicher was a cadet member of the Civil Air Patrol as a teenager.

Scott Speicher's plane crashed in a remote, uninhabited wasteland known as Tulul ad Dulaym at.

Scott Speicher was the first combat casualty for American forces in the war.

The US Navy maintained in a 1997 document that Scott Speicher was downed by a surface-to-air missile.

However, an unclassified summary of a 2001 CIA report suggests that Scott Speicher's aircraft was shot down by a missile fired from an Iraqi aircraft, most likely a MiG-25, flown by Lieutenant Zuhair Dawoud, 84th squadron of the IQAF.

Scott Speicher was at 28,000 feet and travelling at 0.92 Mach when the front of the aircraft suffered a catastrophic event.

The day after the shoot-down, Scott Speicher was placed on MIA status.

On 22 May 1991, after the end of the Gulf War, Scott Speicher's status was changed to killed in action, body not recovered.

Navy Commander Buddy Harris, who was a friend and fellow naval aviator of Scott Speicher's, became a strong advocate for searching for Scott Speicher, often meeting with US officials.

The canopy was a good distance from the rest of the aircraft, suggesting Scott Speicher had tried to eject.

In conjunction with the change in classification, Scott Speicher was promoted to commander, in accordance with US Navy practice for POWs held a long time.

Rumors from Iraq said that Scott Speicher was captive, walked with a limp, and had facial scars.

Scott Speicher's name was found on a document in Iraq, dated January 2003, that had the names of prisoners being held in the country.

Over time, as the US occupation increasingly gained control over Anbar Province, the Pentagon said that Scott Speicher probably was not captured.

Scott Speicher's family believed and was worried that would change the status of Captain Scott Speicher to KIA and declared they would oppose such action.

On 2 August 2009, the Navy reported that Scott Speicher's remains were found in Iraq by United States Marines from 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines.

Scott Speicher's jawbone was used to identify him after study at the Charles C Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs at Dover Air Force Base.

Scott Speicher's family expressed gratitude that the Defense Department had stayed with the case and that closure was now available.

The memorial, located at the entrance of the tennis facility named after him in 1993, features a bronze Navy pilot's helmet and oxygen mask and will eventually include a bronze Navy G-1 flight jacket and naval officer's khaki garrison cap similar to what Scott Speicher would have worn.

The story has a photo of Scott Speicher's children talking with a member of VFA-81 next to the plane.

On 13 August 2009, the remains of Captain Scott Speicher arrived in Florida 18 years after having been shot down in the Persian Gulf War.

Captain Scott Speicher's final resting place is at the Jacksonville Memory Garden located in Orange Park, Florida.

Scott Speicher was married to JoAnne and they had two children.