Scholarship established in memory of veteran son

Last week Paul and Marian Vallely of Bigfork established the Scott Vallely Soldiers Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund in memory of their son, Scott Paul Vallely, to support veterans and their immediate family members who are pursuing studies at Flathead Valley Community College.

The fund honors Private First Class Scott Paul Vallely who died April 20, 2004, and his service in the military.

“We endowed it with $10,000 to be added by future donations and fundraisers,” Paul said. “It will go on and we can raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for veterans.”

The first scholarship from this fund will be awarded for the 2012-13 academic year at FVCC. The recipient must be a veteran or an immediate family member of a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, including the National Guard and Reserve, reside within FVCC’s service area, and demonstrate leadership qualities.

“The unemployment rate for veterans is about 27 percent and we know that to apply for a lot of jobs out there, particularly in manufacturing, some of these vets come out with only a high school education,” Paul said. “We can help them get jobs by getting them schooled in things for the background in their job.”

Scott was an infantryman assigned to Company D, Support Battalion, First Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C., where he attended the Special Forces preparation course.

Scott was born in Oakland, Calif. on March 13, 1975, and graduated from high school in Lafayette, Calif. Scott was an outstanding athlete in many sports and ultimately received a football scholarship to Colorado State University.

After college, he began a career in the media field and then made the decision to join the United States Army.

Scott entered the Army in October 2003 and completed Infantry Advance Individual Training at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2004. He was then assigned to First Battalion, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment (Airborne) where he attended the Basic Airborne course.

Scott’s awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Parachutist Badge and the Rifle Marksmanship Badge.

For more information about the Scott Vallely Soldiers Memorial Fund, visit www.soldiersmemorial fund.org.

For scholarship information or for a scholarship application form, contact FVCC’s financial aid office at 756-3849, or visit www.fvcc.edu/financialaid.html.

Contributions to this fund can be made by contacting Sue Evans, associate director of the FVCC Foundation, at 756-3963 or at sevans@fvcc.edu.