Kirk C. Watkins, Jamestown. Sam Scott, as a kid growing up in Jamestown, Colorado, seemed destined for service. His father served as the assistant pastor at the local church and his mother taught ESL to students at the college. He attended school at Jamestown Elementary, and was educated in the unique philosophies of community and service that came from growing up in a small mountain town.  

Sam served as a volunteer first responder and firefighter, and was a ubiquitous presence in town, appearing to be everywhere at once. 

George Ridgik, a long-time resident of Jamestown, has known Sam for many years. “Samuel? I’ve watched him, growing up in Jamestown since he was a little kid, seeing him running around,” said Ridgik. 

“Growing up in Jamestown, he really knows community,” he said, “When Packey [sic] was ill, and getting older he was over there to check on him, shovel his steps, he just jumps in there when nobody’s even asked him, super supportive of people.” Ridgik continued, “he seems to have a soft spot for older people, he’s there to help older people.” 

George told how Sam had said he wanted to be a paratrooper in the Army but had never been in a plane before. Ridgik, being a pilot, took the opportunity to take Sam and another member of the church on a flight and was happy to give Sam a turn at the controls and fly the plane.

In May 2011, Sam had found his future purpose. After watching the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, he realized that he wanted to join the Army. Sam described his decision, “More or less, started thinking the military was the direction to go after that. The Bin Laden raid looked cool, took a while to narrow down Army infantry though.” 

 He had graduated from high school early, in 2018, and was taking classes at the community college, while he waited to ship out to basic training. On December 29, 2019, he did ship out, arriving in Fort Benning, Georgia on December 30th, 2019. 

“Just in time for New Years, lol,” said Sam. He attended the infamous 1-50 infantry battalion for osut, or in other words, he was trained by the Army’s Bravo 1st 50th Infantry Division One Station Unit Training (osut). 

Thomas Rabbitt is an Army veteran that lives in Jamestown and has known Sam for many years. When asked to describe Sam he said simply, “He’s a great kid, and wise beyond his years!” 

He was home to visit his family over the holidays and took an afternoon to talk about his time so far. “It’s been the best, worst time. Describing his experience so far, he said, “It’s fun but it sucks, and you love hating it,” He says he is definitely proud to be serving and does not regret his decision but hasn’t made any decisions regarding his future. 

When asked about his family’s reaction to him joining he said, “Yeah, they’re supportive. I think they would probably be fine if I was not in the military, but they’re supportive of my decision to be in the military. It works.”

His commitment to his community is very palpable, evident as he spoke of visiting the fire-hall and hearing of the local fire-fighter’s response to the summer’s fires. The volunteer firefighters in Jamestown had been among the first on the scene for the CalWood fire, which had been one of the many devastating fires during this summer’s record fire season. His brother is a Hotshot firefighter that had responded to the fire in Estes Park, and Sam has spoken of potentially following that path.

During our conversation he talked about going back to the Jamestown fire-station, walking into the station and seeing the diagram he drew over a year ago at a training session, of a response truck still on the chalkboard. He talked about his possible future in the fire department, ambitions of fire certifications, and possibly becoming a fire chief after his enlistment is over. 

Sam Scott has always been passionate and invested in his community and looks forward to returning to Jamestown after his military service is complete.

(Originally published in the February 4, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)