FSU dedicates memorial to fallen Navy pilot Capt. Scott Speicher

Florida State University, recognized as one of the country’s top universities in providing opportunities to veterans, paid tribute Friday to one of its proudest graduates, Capt. Scott Speicher.

Speicher, a U.S. Navy pilot, died in service while deployed to the Persian Gulf War in 1991. He was a 1980 business administration graduate.

FSU President John Thrasher, joined by Speicher’s wife, JoAnne Speicher Harris, her husband, Buddy Harris, family and a host of others unveiled the memorial pedestal in front of the Scott Speicher Tennis Center on Chieftan Way. The university named the tennis complex in his honor in 1993.

The 4-foot all, 2-foot wide memorial features a bronzed sun visor and flying helmet replicating one worn by Speicher.

“It means everything,” said Buddy Harris, a retired U.S. Navy Commander, Speicher’s close friend and naval training partner who married Speicher’s widow in 1992.

“Scott was so enamored with FSU,” said Harris, speaking for the family. “He wore (approved) FSU patches on his flight suit. He promoted FSU anytime he could.”

Thrasher said the idea was to have a more prominent tribute to Speicher’s contribution to the country on display.

“We wanted to have something that was more permanent,” he said. “We thought it was a special memorial to his legacy.”

Resting on a concrete bench next to the memorial pedestal was a green Navy fighter jacket and Garrison cap. The jacket was etched with Sunliners Squadron, VFA-81, designating Speicher’s squad.

“We’re going to bronze it, like he’s laid it down, sitting here with it,” said Billy Francis, a retired Air Force Colonel and director of the Student Veterans Center at FSU.

That should be completed in six months, he said.

Speicher, 33, was an avid tennis player, but was not a member of the FSU’s men’s tennis team. But having the complex named in his honor has sealed his membership in the campus tennis community.

Jennifer Hyde, head women’s tennis coach, said planning the memorial began about three years ago.

It evolved into a collaboration between Speicher’s family, FSU’s Grounds and Landscape Operations, Master Craftsman Studio, Mad Dog Construction and Student Veterans Center.

“This is a huge and memorable occasion for all of us,” Hyde said. She held up a tennis ball that has been kept since the $1.2 million complex was dedicated in 1993.

Speicher, who was raised in Orange Park, Florida, met his wife, JoAnne, on campus.

Following graduation, he joined the Navy and attended Aviation Officer Candidate School at Naval Air Station Pensacola, according to FSU.

By the early 1990s, Scott had attained the rank of lieutenant commander.  He was assigned to VFA-81 (nicknamed the "Sunliners"), aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga at the time of his deployment to the Iraq theatre.

Speicher, who was posthumously promoted to captain, was considered the first American casualty during Operation Desert Storm, but was later reclassified by the U.S. government as missing in action in 2001 and missing or captured a year later.

Harris said many believe Speicher survived the attack and lived for an unknown period of time afterward. His remains were found in 2009 in the Anbar province of Iraq after a nearly 20-year search.

Harris said the investigation into Speicher’s death prompted the Pentagon to change policy on how it works to find remains of fallen military and have them returned.

His death investigation led to the creation of the Joint Intelligence Analytic Cell at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. The division determines the status of those missing in action or killed in action.

“If Missing in Action, they go to find them,” he said.

FSU’s women’s tennis team plays Air Force at noon Saturday as part of Military Appreciation Weekend.

Contact senior writer Byron Dobson @tallahassee.com or on Twitter @byrondobson.