Scott Chapman Vietnam U. S. Army Record Specialist 1973-1975

Veteran Biography of Scott Chapman by Autumn Lorenz and Brecken Boudreaux

“Too many people take freedom for granted, and it is not appreciated because we have it.” These important words were spoken by Scott Chapman, a retired Army record specialist who served in Okinawa during the Vietnam Era. We are honored to tell his story.

Scott Chapman was born on December 25, 1949, in Wichita, Kansas, to his parents George and Harriet Chapman. He also has an older sister, Linda, and a younger brother, Randy. Scott grew up in Beloit, where he enjoyed hunting and fishing.

Scott has lived in Beloit most of his life, except for his time in college and in the Army. Scott said he figured out that he was a good student after he learned he needed to study. After he figured that out, he enjoyed going to school. Scott graduated from Beloit High School in 1967, graduated from K-State with a degree in Secondary Education Business, and then went back to K-State on the G.I. Bill and received his master's in Agricultural Education in 1977.

Although Scott had not thought of joining the Army previously, when he was twenty-three, he was drafted for the Army. Scott was totally deaf in his left ear, so he was told that he would not be assigned to infantry or artillery because he was not able to locate the source of sounds.

Scott completed his basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. His basic training was hard; the soldiers woke up before sunrise, marched to breakfast, and then did training all the rest of the day. In the mornings the soldiers had to have perfectly made bunks, or they would have extra conditioning. He said he was not in peak shape, but he lost thirty pounds in the first six weeks of training.

Scott’s dress uniform had gotten loose because they had him try it on when he weighed 200 pounds, and by the end of the training, he was down to 170. Sometimes the men would even stuff leftover food in their pockets to eat while training. Because Scott was losing so much weight, he was always hungry. Each night ended at nine o’clock, and it was “lights out.” While in Fort Leonard Wood at the time of Scott’s training, it was very cold and snowed frequently.

Most of Scott’s military days lasted about twelve hours, but usually no longer than that. Every soldier in basic training did the combat training whether they were going to be in infantry or not. He did not request a specific assignment. After he completed basic training, he did Combat Support Training (CST), also known as Advanced Individual Training (AIT). His advanced training also took place in Fort Leonard Wood.

Scott soon learned that he would be a personnel record specialist and he had to complete another six weeks of (CST). Scott was assigned to Okinawa, Japan, which is a coral island that is sixty-three miles long and four-to-twelve miles wide, which was quite a difference for a land-locked Kansas boy.

When Scott first landed in Okinawa, he was immediately transferred to the base. “I didn’t really have a first impression,“ he said because all he saw were military people. Scott stated that he really regretted not learning Japanese when he first got to Okinawa though. The United States had captured this island in WWll and had a military presence there every day. The Okinawa people were friendly and helpful if they were treated the same.

While Scott was away, he wrote to his parents regularly and to his wife Mary Jane, until she could join him in Okinawa. After she arrived in Okinawa, Scott and Mary Jane lived in a tiny cement apartment "on the economy." Since Mary Jane was "non-command sponsored" they could not live on base. Okinawa has typhoons, so the windows on their apartment were made out of metal bars. There was also a limited water supply in Okinawa, so during times of water rationing, they would have to boil the water and fill the bathtub up just so they could flush their toilet.

All branches of the military had bases in Okinawa. Scott was a record specialist at the U. S. Army Base Command. He handled the records that the soldiers processed in and out of Okinawa. Scott was later transferred to the headquarters company officer records division where he worked under Chief Warrant Officer Four, with whom Scott had a great relationship. Each new commanding officer brought his or her own requests and preferences, so that relationship was very important.

Scott and Mary Jane had planned a wedding when he was in (CST) on March 10th, but Scott was not able to get leave, so they were married on March 17th instead. They made many friends in Okinawa but became good friends with a couple from Iowa and have stayed connected ever since.

Scott had many great experiences in Okinawa and in the Army, but when his commitment was over, he was ready to go home back to a civilian life in spite of an encouraging offer for reenlistment.

After Scott earned his master's, he came home to Beloit and taught Production Agriculture at the NCK-Tech College, farmed full time, and ended his career as the Agriculture Extension Agent for the Post Rock Extension Office. Scott and Mary Jane have one son Seth, and a daughter-in-law Lindsay. Some of Scott's favorite retirement hobbies are skiing, fishing, and gardening.

Scott was awarded the Good Conduct Medal and the Expert Marksman award during his time in the Army. He kept his dog tags from the war and still has his uniform and pictures from when he served.

We asked Scott what he wants our generation to know and he said, “I would hope our younger generation does a lot more soul searching before joining conflict.”

We appreciate Scott for all his hard work to help keep our freedom and for inspiring others to help protect our country. We should all be very thankful to have the freedom we do today because we might not have it if it were not for all those men in Vietnam, including Scott Chapman.