Colonel Robert Sheldon Scott ( November 30, 1913 - February 5, 1999) was a soldier of the United States Army who was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during the Second World War.

Scott, who was a lieutenant at the time of his action, was a member of the 172nd Infantry Regiment of the 43rd Infantry Division that successfully captured the Munda Point airstrip on the Solomon Islands from its Japanese defenders in the summer of 1943. On July 29, 1943 Japanese soldiers counter-attacked against the American advance and obtained a strong position on a hill overlooking the airfield. Scott commanded a platoon that he led into attack against this position. 75 yards from the enemy soldiers, Scott became detached from the rest of his men. Despite being alone, being shot in the left hand and receiving a shrapnel wound to the head, Scott used the combination of his carbine and grenades to kill 28 Japanese soldiers, causing the rest of the attacking soldiers to withdraw. Scott's colleagues consequently took the hill and later the airstrip.

He received the Medal of Honor in October 1944. In 1997 New Mexico, his home state, declared November 30 Robert Scott Day in his honor. He died at his home in Santa Fe in 1999, aged 85.

References

• Obituary from the New York Times, plus the complete Medal of Honor citation