Francesca Bill was the definition of a 21st Century war bride. Her then-longtime boyfriend, Air National Guardsman Scott Bill, proposed after returning home from an oversees deployment in 2002. Plans for a 2004 wedding in Jamaica were scrapped when duty called for a third time. They wed just hours prior to his departure.Scott joined the Guard in 1985; just two weeks out of high school. Over the years, his service in the 133rd Aerial Port Squadron took him to South America, Singapore and almost every country in Europe. Those trips each lasted just a few weeks. Then came Sept. 11. The deployments that followed were longer and more frequent. A transportation specialist, he helped move troops and supplies in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Over a two-year period, he was gone 18 months. The time away, he said, “helps adjust your priorities. Family comes first above everything else.”
His first deployment spurred him to finally propose to his love of five years. He’d spent 155 days serving in Diego Garcia, an island in the British Indian Ocean. His second tour followed late in 2002, in Kuwait City. It lasted only 45 days, but he was gone for Thanksgiving and Christmas. “The holidays are the hardest,” he said of being away from family. The day before leaving for his third deployment in 2003 to “an undisclosed location in the Middle East,” he decided he didn’t want to risk waiting on their matrimony. Should he not survive, he wanted to ensure his love would be eligible for spousal financial benefits.
He called and said “we have to do it right now,” Francesca said. After stopping at a courthouse for the paperwork, they were married at Fort Snelling where he was based. She wore jeans and he was in his fatigues. Fellow guardsmen, some whom Francesca didn’t even know, were last-minute bridesmaids and groomsmen. No family were present for the makeshift ceremony, but they did get to join the newlyweds for dinner. Thirty-six hours after they tied the knot, Scott was on his way to the Middle East.
They celebrated a dual wedding reception and welcome home party in the fall. Their originally-planned Jamaica wedding in January became a vow renewal and honeymoon. Francesca said she isnÂ’t disappointed about never getting to walk down the aisle in a fancy white dress. SheÂ’d always wanted a low-key wedding. And the unexpected unfolding of events did have a positive aspect: Instead of one celebration, they had several.
Scott retired from the Guard last year, after more than 22 years of service. They’ve settled into a more routine married life; both work for Boston Scientific — she as a software quality engineer and he as a production supervisor. Home improvement projects are among their free-time activities. They recently finished re-landscaping their backyard. Amongst the new stone steps, fire pit and water lilies, are statues of four men standing at attention. A wood cross topped with Scott’s old military helmet stands in front of the men, who represent each of the branches of the military.
It’s a tribute to all the servicemen and women who’ve lost their lives, including the son of a senior master sergeant in Scott’s squadron — a Marine who was killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq. “It’s my personal thank you to the individuals who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice,” Scott said.