Scott Brank

Thanks Wissy,
I flew with Scott several times during our months together in HMM-165 and he was a good Crew Chief. We weren't best buds, but since I was from Georgia and he from Tennessee, we would always pass playful "jabs" at one another, unless a "yankee" entered the fray, then we teamed up! LOL!
RIP Scott.

Scott Brank

I will forward this to my partner Jim Tyler who talks of Scott often. Jimmy too got his SilverStar in HMM 165 but Jim does not use a computer. I am sure he will be devistated at this news. thanks for posting. Semper Fidelis

Chuck Nowotny

Follow up

I notified Jim Tyler who stated that his best friend Scott may have had prostate cancer which may have contributed to the article found at the below link.

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/09/News/article.php?ID=69548

Tyler/Brank connection

Tyler was Brank's 1st Mech and often his port side gunner in HMM-165. If you saw one, the other wasn't far behind, according to George "Nash" Greene that often flew with Tyler after he was a Crew Chief himself. Our best to Tyler while we all think of Scott at this time.

RIP Scott

Scott Brank and Tyler

Joe et al.

Yes, I know full well. Jim has for years been full of stories, some sordid most not and a lot contain Scott. Jim told me that he was aware that Scott had been suffering from Prostate Cancer and that might have had something to do with the other issue the local paper was refering to.

By the way, just prior to reading about Scott in NOTAM, I just finished posting a recent photo of Jim painting my windows on the HMM 165 photo archive.

Jim had this to say about Scott. Jim said that he was painting a house last week for a lady in Laguna Beach when a hummingbird crashed into a window. Jim rescued the little bird and when it recovered, he let it go. The woman, from Wales told him that in Wales a bird hitting a window meant someone would soon pass on. Coincidence? Superstition? Of course if that were the case with all the birds that fly into my house and hit windows etc, there aren't enough of us to full fill the superstition and I have twelve grandchildren.

We have no real pesky bugs in So. Cal so the big slider is always open. Ergo the birds seem to fly in and check out the scene.. and the dogs food. Two were taking wild evasive action trying to escape from one of a family of hungry red tailed hawks that live with me and use the evergreen pear tree in my front yard as a picnic table to ravenously consume their catch of day.

Thanks for the heads up all... I am sure Scott will be standing tall and will answer loudly for his welcome into the Heavenly bar wth the brother Marines who went before him.

Semper Fi.