Sudbury mourns soldier killed in Afghanistan

Published by The Boston Globe

First Lieutenant Scott Milley of Sudbury was captain of his high school ice hockey team and a cum laude graduate from college, but since the age of 3 his ultimate goal was to join the US Army.

Milley, 23, was killed Tuesday in Afghanistan’s Logar Province when insurgents attacked his unit, according to the Department of Defense.

Milley, a 2005 graduate of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, was the first person from Sudbury to die in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Sudbury’s director of veterans services, Brian Stearns. News of Milley’s death rocked the community.


“He was the most lovable kid I ever coached,’’ Peter Elenbaas, one of Milley’s hockey coaches, said in an e-mail to Lincoln-Sudbury staff. “He combined the toughness of a prize-fighter with the effervescent joy and energy of a teenage boy. Truly, a treasure of this high school.’’

Milley’s father, Steve, said yesterday that the family was devastated.

“From the time he was 3 years old, that was his absolute dream, to be an Army man,’’ Steve Milley said. “His dream has now become the family nightmare. The family’s heart has been broken. Our baby son has gone.’’

Scott Milley was caught in a firefight outside Baraki Barak, his father said. Milley was an Army Ranger in the 10th Mountain Division and had been in Afghanistan for only a month.

“He was the happiest, most joyful person without a care in the world,’’ his father said. “His first e-mail home was, ‘Boy, this country’s beautiful.’ ’’

The family was flying to Washington, D.C., yesterday to meet Milley’s body, his father said.

Milley was captain of the ice hockey team at Lincoln-Sudbury and a Dual County League All-Star. He joined ROTC at the University of New Hampshire, from which he graduated cum laude in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

“Scott was an exceptional young man,’’ said Lieutenant Colonel Paul Webber, professor of military science at UNH, in a statement. “He was everything we could have asked for in a cadet, and his death is such a loss. Scott was the best that our organization represents.’’

Milley was a member of the Second Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, based in Fort Polk, La., the defense department said.

His goal after serving in the military was to join the FBI or the CIA, his father said.

Lincoln-Sudbury’s superintendent, Scott Carpenter, said Milley was popular in school and a prominent student athlete. “The type of scholar he was here and the type of leader he was amongst his peers would have prepared him well for anything,’’ said Carpenter, who was Milley’s house master.

Visitors streamed in and out of the Milleys’ home to comfort the family yesterday, said Alison Corwin, who lives next door.

“It’s such a quiet little town; you don’t expect anything to happen,’’ she said. “It’s definitely a shock to the community.’’

Town officials released a statement yesterday afternoon extending condolences to the family and said they would wait to hear from the family before planning a memorial.

Martin Finucane of the Globe staff contributed to this report.