America Supports You: Soldier's Legacy Benefits Wounded Troops

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Dec. 21, 2007 - An Illinois-based group is working to honor one soldier by supporting many other servicemembers. "The Captain Scott Corwin Foundation is dedicated to helping our men and women in uniform, concentrating on those wounded," said Greg Corwin, one of the foundation's executive members, and Scott's father.

The foundation was established to honor Scott Corwin, an active-duty soldier killed, not by foreign terrorists, but while walking home in Savannah, Ga., after a night out with friends.

"We try to tailor our organization after what we think Scott would want, and we do a lot in the field of sports events, as Scott was a huge sports fan," Greg Corwin said.

Corwin said the foundation, which has arranged for wounded servicemembers to attend sporting events, doesn't limit itself to this type of support but finds such events are a great distraction for recovering vets.

"We also grant an annual scholarship in Scott's name at his high school in Dairen, Ill.," he said.

The scholarship is part of a leadership program that will build upon the values of athletes in areas of scholarship and citizenship while encouraging them to give back to the community at large, Corwin said.

The U.S. Military Academy graduate was serving as the construction officer assigned to 92nd Engineer Battalion (Heavy) at Fort Stewart, Ga., on May 29, when he was shot and killed. The case is still unsolved.

The foundation recently became a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

"We believe being (affiliated) with America Supports You puts us among some of the finest military-support groups in the nation," Corwin said.

Corwin and the foundation also worked with U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania to get the Captain Scott Corwin Armed Forces Protection Act, House Resolution 3884, introduced in the House of Representatives. The bill, which was recently introduced, would make it a federal and capital offense to murder any member of the military, Corwin said.

Current law applies such penalties to those who kill a police officer, even if that police officer is unidentifiable as a police officer, according to the foundation's Web site. For military homicide victims, prosecutors currently must prove the defendant knew the victim was a servicemember.