A Courageous Army Ranger 

Walter Scott White, Jr.

Colonel, U.S. Army

• A Strong Military Officer

Growing up in Baton Rouge, Walter Scott White attended Baton Rouge High and earned both bachelor’s (1957) and master’s degrees (1960) from LSU. A proud member of the LSU ROTC program, he was commissioned in the U.S. Army and entered active duty in 1960 at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey. He was Company Commander, Training Company A, at Fort Gordon, Georgia and was commissioned as a regular Army officer in 1961. In the early 1960s, White was leading a Signal Troop Company deep into the Vietnam jungles before most Americans were aware of the depth of the U.S. involvement.

• The International Tour

Colonel White became a ranger and commanded the 362nd Signal Troop Company in Vietnam. In 1963, he was assigned to 7th Special Forces Group, Airborne, Fort Bragg, North Carolina and commanded a Special Forces team in the Dominican Republic.

During a second tour in Vietnam, as a member of 5th Special Forces Group, he advised the Vietnamese Ranger Company. In 1967, he was assigned to 8th Special Forces Group, Panama and was a member of the team that captured Ché Guevara in Bolivia.

• Greatness Realized

Colonel White completed Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1969 and in 1972 was assigned as commander of a Joint Communications Unit of NATO in Naples, Italy. From 1975 to 1979, White served as Troop Commander at Fort Ritchie, Maryland, then commanded the Joint Communications Support Element at MacDill Air Force Base. Walter Scott White died in 2009.