Katherine soldier Scott Palmer killed in Afghanistan to be honoured with plaque on Darwin Cenotaph

On Anzac Day, a plaque on the Darwin cenotaph will be dedicated to Scott Palmer, a Katherine soldier killed in Afghanistan

Ray and Pam Palmer, parents of Scott Palmer, an Australian commando killed in Afghanistan in 2010 will have a memorial plaque on the cenotaph dedicated before the dawn service for ANZAC day.

A SIMPLE ceremony before the Anzac Day Dawn Service unfolds in Darwin will ensure the ultimate sacrifice of Katherine soldier, Scott Palmer, will not be forgotten.

In a prelude to the service, Scott’s parents, Ray and Pam Palmer, will help dedicate a plaque on the Darwin Cenotaph to their brave son, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010.

Australian commando Scott Palmer, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010.

“Personally, I am deeply honoured that Scott has been recognised,” Ray said.

Pam said her younger son would have been wondering what the fuss was all about.

“In his eyes it was just his job and it was what he was there for,” she said.

Pam said Scott would have just wanted people to have a Corona with lime for him.

Scott grew up in Katherine and enlisted in the Australian Army as an infantryman in 2001.

He served with the 5th/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment at Darwin’s Robertson Barracks before becoming a commando in 2006.

“He was very proud of being a Territorian,” Ray said. “He represented the NT in rugby league and rugby union and he played for the Brahmans in Katherine and then Uni Pirates in Darwin.”

During his career, Scott deployed to the Middle East and East Timor and it was on his third tour of Afghanistan that tragedy struck.

In the early hours of June 21, 2010, Scott boarded a US Black Hawk helicopter with nine Australian soldiers and US personnel heading to the Shah Wali Kot region of Kandahar Province.

The chopper crashed coming in to land and Scott was killed along with Privates Tim Aplin and Ben Chuck and a US serviceman.

Scott was 27 years old.

Darwin RSL president, Don Milford, said adding Scott’s name to the Darwin cenotaph was the “respectful thing to do”. “The Cenotaph bears the names of all Territorians who have given up their lives in defence of our country,” he said.

“And it’s so important that the younger generations and their children’s children remember the people who gave up their lives for our country.”

Scott’s plaque is the first one to be added to the Darwin cenotaph since the plaque for Reg Hillier, a Territorian killed in Vietnam.