A Soldier’s Homecoming

By Cliff Newell

The West Linn Tidings, Mar 11, 2010

cliff newell / west linn tidings

It was a patriotic occasion in West Linn when Ross Scott returned to his wife, Candace, and kids after a year of service in Iraq. Not only their house, but the entire street was decorated in his honor.

A hero must be in town in West Linn.

That is because 11th Street is festooned with yellow ribbons, American flags and signs, and over Willamette Falls Drive hangs a banner that says “Welcome Home Ross.”

Lt. Col. Ross Scott returned home last week after a year of service with the U.S. Army in Iraq, and his neighbors did not hold back in their efforts to make him welcome.

“I came home and the whole place was decorated,” Scott said. “The yellow ribbons went all the way out to the freeway. I was pretty impressed.”

Getting in on the action were Mary Brennock of Fast Signs, who made the big banner, the City of West Linn, which put it up, and the third-graders of Willamette Primary School, located right across the street from the Scott home, who put up a sign.

The people gladdest to see him, however, were his wife Candace, daughter Cayley, and son Ross, Jr.

“We have the perfect house to decorate with all of the windows,” Candace Scott said.

All of the joy and fun marked the end of a year of much stress for the Scott family, and it was the second time they have had to undergo such a lengthy separation. In 2004, Scott spent 15 months in Afghanistan.

“It was harder this time, but the community is so supportive,” Candace Scott said. “I grew up here and if you need anything, people are always there.

“But there was more stress on the kids this time. They’re older and they understand time better. They would see a newspaper article about a soldier dying in Iraq and they would ask, ‘Is that my dad?’

“The everyday stuff gets harder. If you think too much about it, you’ll get sad and it will take forever for time to pass. But some soldiers have had to take five tours, so I try not to feel sorry for myself.”

“I was proud of Dad, but I missed him,” said 11-year-old Cayley. “It made me feel sad.”

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit