Scott Lee Roth

Their Story

Scott Lee Roth was born on March 11th, 1970. Roth’s parents divorced when he was young, a split which resulted in Roth living with his mother in Arlington, TX for the early years of his life. Roth’s mother died in January 1986, which devastated Roth and his sister Sharon, and caused them to move north to Illinois to live with their father Gary later that year. Gary Roth noted the emotional toll on his son, “At first he seemed a little lost and had trouble with school, but slowly we began growing closer.”^[1] Roth and his father eventually grew close through a shared interest in hunting and fishing. Gary Roth recounted how his son overcame the tragedy of his mother’s death; beginning to succeed academically, make friends, and fall in love with a girl named Mary. Scott and Mary were wedded after they graduated from Rockridge High School in 1988, and the two enlisted in the Army together shortly after.^[2]

Gary Roth reported that his son was not initially intending to join the armed forces but was resolved to see the world before continuing his education in the field of criminal justice.^[3] Roth would follow his interests in law enforcement by serving as a military police officer with the 401st Military Police.^[4] Roth’s unit was mobilized shortly after his induction to participate in the 1989 invasion of Panama, dubbed Operation Just Cause.

The goal was to restore the democratically elected government of Guillermo Endara and arrest Noriega on drug trafficking charges. At the time, Operation Just Cause was the largest and most complex combat operation since the Vietnam War. Nearly 26,000 combat troops deployed, with just under half being from bases in the United States. Two dozen targets were attacked throughout the country, using a wide spectrum of tactical operations including Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT), Air-Assault, Airborne, and Special Forces.^[5]

Acknowledging the mortal danger, he would be required to rush into on the day of the invasion, Roth wrote letters to each of his family members the night before.^[6] This action proved to be tragically prophetic: Roth was killed in action by sniper fire as he assisted in setting up a roadblock.^[7] Roth’s sacrifice was not in vain, however; due to the heroics of Roth and service people like him, the US completed the mission objectives of Operation Just Cause, “The U.S. Army successfully accomplished its mission; decisively neutralizing Noriega’s forces, restoring the elected democratic government, protecting American lives, and minimizing Panamanian casualties.”^[8]

Scott Lee Roth was laid to rest at the National Cemetery at the Rock Island Arsenal on December 29th, 1989. Roth’s family got to enjoy one last Christmas with him before his death, and his sister Sharon later noted her brother’s death as the second Christmas-time tragedy weathered by the family, “We lost our mom around the holidays, too. Christmas will never be the same.”^[9] Before his death, Scott Roth was looking forward to reuniting with his wife, starting college, and further developing his relationship with his father. Instead, his family received his purple heart the following March.^[10] Scott Lee Roth’s legacy is that of a life cut short by the tolls of war. It is also the legacy of a young man who strove to rise above the tragedies that life leveled against him, beloved of his family and friends, who fell in the service of his country in the effort of overthrowing a military dictatorship.