Family identifies Summerville man as US contractor killed in Syria

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - A Summerville family is remembering a U.S. contractor who was killed in a drone attack last month at a coalition base in northeastern Syria.

Scott Dubis, 52, died in the attack on March 23, according to his family. The U.S. Department of Defense said Iranian-backed militias were responsible.

“I didn’t want him to be the U.S. contractor killed in Syria,” Scott’s brother, Mike Dubis, said. “I want him to be U.S. contractor Scott Dubis, Scott Patrick Dubis, of Summerville, South Carolina, and I wanted people to know that he sacrificed his life for this country. And he did. He was over there working side by side with the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces and he was very proud of that. I want his name to be out. I want people to know him and to remember him.”

Dubis graduated from Summerville High School, and loved ones say he was always there to lend a hand. He loved life and traveling the world. His brother said if you met him, you had a friend for life.

When he was home, he had a passion for home improvement projects. Completing his backyard was his dream, and he and his wife, Shay, worked on it together. They just got married last year.

His career as a contractor to the U.S. military would eventually take him around the world, from Europe to the Middle East.

“He tried to shield us from the dangers he was experiencing over there,” Mike Dubis said. “He would always say, ‘I’m gonna be alright.’ He’d talk to my parents, ‘I’m gonna be alright, Mom and Dad, I got it.’ He shielded us from a lot of that.”

Mike said Scott absolutely loved his job and was proud of his work with the men and women of the U.S. military.

The family traveled to Dover Air Force Base for the dignified transfer of Dubis’s body and were there to see his casket draped in an American flag.

He is now finally home in the Lowcountry after a homecoming fit for a hero at the Charleston International Airport, complete with a procession from law enforcement and volunteers from the American Legion.

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do without him,” his brother said. “I really don’t. I’m gonna miss him.”

Visitation will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at Carolina Memorial Funeral Home on Rivers Avenue in North Charleston, according to his obituary.

A memorial service will follow at noon at the funeral home chapel.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to delaware.uso.org or the Wounded Warrior Project.

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