Posted by Tom Mathis on September 6, 2011:

Scott, like many of us, are most true to ourselves only when we are Soldiering. I swear there are folks who are a breed apart and regular life is just to constricting for us. We all cope in the ways we can, but solace is only found in the circumstances and environment of the field. My most poignant memories of Scott are from the Infantry Officer's Basic Course (IOBC) and Ranger School. We were in the same IOBC class and back then my confidence in making it through Week 0 at Ranger School was not at it's highest because of my fear of the 5-mile run. I remember sharing that Fear w/ Scott prior to Ranger School. He thought I was insane and we ended up in the same Ranger Platoon together and on the morning of the 5-mile run, I remember him giving me a silent look of encouragement at O-Dark Thirty at the onset of the run. Oh, it turned out to be a very irrational fear, the run turned out to be pretty easy, but I didn't have that sorted out at the time and Scott's confidence in me is the most cherished type of support a person can have when facing challenges. My other most poignant memory happened to be at Ranger School also- we parachuted into somewhere to Road March to Camp Darby. I remember the Ranger Instructors (RI) asking for volunteers for the Van Guard, i.e., a small group of soldiers to March in front of the main body. It is a crappy position in war, because your purpose is to spoil any ambushes out in front of the main element and in Ranger School- it meant hauling arse at a hellish pace, which nobody wanted to do in their weakened conditions. The RIs started to get angry and I remember looking at Scott and him returning my look and we silently nodded to each other and simultaneously volunteered. It turned out to be the absolute worst road march of my life, it was beyond miserable and Scott and I sucked it up and encouraged each other the entire way. It was a long night. What I knew of Scott was that if it came to War, he would always be one of those guys who would be there for you and my fond memories of him were when he was in his element, in the field soldering. Granted, the field and garrison Army are two different environments and Scott did not take too kindly to garrison life. We went our ways after that and I knew he had some challenging times after the fact, but not sure how everything else worked out for him. It was a surprise to hear of his passing. When I heard the news... well, this is how I remember Penzel. Be thou at peace.

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