Remembering a genuine and honest man on Memorial Day

Widow reflects on her husband’s character and integrity, By Nancy Kriz TUXEDO — Tanya Lynch has 14 voice mails saved on her home telephone voice messaging system. They are all loving and encouraging messages from her husband, Marine Lance Cpl. Scott Lynch. Those messages continue to provide comfort to Tanya Lynch because they reinforce her husband’s genuineness and his kind and caring nature. Scott Lynch — a Greenwood Lake native and a rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Regimental Combat Team 1, I Marine Expeditionary Force Forward at Camp Lejeune, N.C, — was killed while on patrol on Oct. 6, 2010. Scott joined the Marine Corps in October 2008 and was promoted to lance corporal in September 2009. Deployed in June 2010 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, he and Tanya married last May before he left for Afghanistan. After his military service was completed, Scott planned to become either a state trooper or a firefighter. This past week would have been the Lynches’ first wedding anniversary and a time for celebration. Instead, it’s a time of reflection. In addition to making note of her first anniversary, Tanya Lynch will also be marking her first Memorial Day honoring Scott’s memory. “It was a job he knew he had to do and he did it well but it didn’t define him,” Tanya said. “Scott was so much more than that. There have been so many people who have talked to me and told me time and time again what a genuine and honest person he was.” Officials at George F. Baker High School in Tuxedo, where Scott graduated in 2006, equally reinforced those traits. Today, the school is honoring him and four others with ties to the school who lost their lives in service to their community and this country. “Scott was a very happy person and a very positive person,” said Baker Principal Denis Petrilak, who knew Scott when he was a student. “He was just a person who lit up a room and the crowd when he came by. I don’t know anyone who had a bad word to say about him.” Although he graduated five years ago, even students attending the school today knew Scott, Petrilak added. “Many current students knew him,” the principal said. “He was four to eight years older than our students. But he went out of his way to know them. He was that kind of person.” 'Scotty Smiles’ still a presence at school Tanya said Scott enjoyed his time at Baker. A yearbook photo notes he was awarded “nicest smile” honors. His nickname, “Scotty Smiles,” still stands. In his honor, the high school’s choir sang “Smile (Though Your Heart is Breaking)” at his funeral mass. “He did a lot of things there,” said Tanya Lynch, who works as a registered nurse for Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown and lives in Warwick. “He was in the Drama Club and an award-winning artist. He was just an overall positive person.” Tanya wants people to know that there was so much more to Scott than being a Marine. “I’m proud of my husband,” she said, adding that he wouldn’t like the fuss made over him. “I just don’t want him to be defined just as a Marine. To me, it was all the little things that made him great. Memorial Day and Veterans Day and anything that gives reflection.... It always brings it back to him as a person. He was the most loving and positive person I ever met.” Equally important, she added, was Scott’s ability to make everyone feel like they were his best friend. “To him, everyone was important,” she said. Tanya noted how easy it was for Scott to inspire others. “He was always motivating people,” she said. “After his passing, people would often tell me how they changed their lives because of him. Genuine is a word that would come up a lot. Another word is honesty. No matter what the situation was, you could always trust him. Scott was just an amazing person.” And his Marine colleagues endorsed those feelings as well. During a ceremony held in Afghanistan to honor Scott shortly after his death, Dustin Lydon, a fellow Marine scout sniper platoon member, spoke to Scott’s elite group. He told stories about his sweet tooth, his passion for playing Rubik’s Cube, Texas Hold 'em and magic cards. But he also spoke of Scott’s decency. “He was the ideal teammate,” said Lydon. “He was well-rounded and a great Marine. It was an honor to work with him. The example has been set and it’s our duty to honor Scott’s life as Marines but more importantly, as men.”