I had many wonderful experiences as Cub Scout, Boy Scout and Explorer Scout. The Boy Scout and Scoutmaster manuals are still on my book shelf.
Years ago I was surprised to be recruited to start a new Troop. Being very busy at the time, I offered the excuse that my children were mostly girls, so I was more interested in their activities. The recruiter responded with, “Well, with young daughters, don’t you think you have a stake in the character development of boys?” He had me there, and after a thorough background check, I became a Scoutmaster. It was a great experience.
It is absolutely incomprehensible to me that anyone would attempt to strangle the activities of the BSA!!
Kent
Avondale, Arizona
I was a Boy Scout and Scout leader nearly forty years ago. When my then 20-year old son died unexpectedly last year, in my son’s memory, and to try to fill the “hole in my heart” that my son’s death had left, I chose to return to Scouting. I was given added impetus to re-join Scouting by the efforts of the loud and vocal voices of immorality who have been actively trying to destroy Scouting and pull it into the immoral gutter of the ACLU, and its fellow comrades.
I have been an assistant Scoutmaster in a wonderful troop for the last two months. My bones may be sorer than they were forty years ago, and my old uniform may not still fit, but the Scout Oath, the Scout Law, and the moral role model of Scouting remains unchanged. Long may there be decent men and women and boys willing to keep it that way.
Howard
Jamison, Pennsylvania
I am a long term “Scouter” and during advancement reviews I usually ask the Scout what “Scout Spirit” means to him. I usually get an answer of “following the Scout Oath or Law,” or maybe they will pick out an individual trait like Trustworthy or Brave. But one young Scout sat for a few seconds and then responded, “Doing the right thing—when no one is watching.”
Don’t you wish everyone had this attitude?
Vernon
Troop 491
Metairie, Louisiana
I have lived my life by the motto, “Do a good turn daily.” It is a reminder to me that as an individual I can make a contribution to society’s well being.
It has been interesting to me that prospective employers always seemed to be more impressed that I was an Eagle Scout than by my having graduated from an Ivy League college.
I am not especially religious, and I am not a Christian, but I find the Scout Oath and Law with its reference to God and a moral code of behavior a very positive influence.
…The ACLU’s attempts to destroy the Boy Scouts speaks to anarchy, not freedom. They are perpetuating a massive fraud when they claim to defend our constitutional rights. The Supreme Court has already ruled in favor of the Boy Scouts’ right of private association.
Alan
Morristown, New Jersey
My husband, three sons, and I as a Cub Scout leader were involved in the Boy Scouts, which met in a local school. It’s outrageous that in some areas this is no longer allowed … Go after them to permit Scouts to meet in public and military sites without restriction.
Marian
Gainesville, Florida
It would take many more pages than this to relate all that Scouting meant to me, but a few things top the list … Number one is my ability to be self-reliant, self-sufficient—to be a survivor no matter what the circumstances. The show on the Discovery Channel, Man vs. Wild, doesn’t teach me much, as when I was a Scout. That knowledge that I can live, could keep my family (wife and five children) alive in a disaster provides a secure heartfelt security that few others have.
The Philmont Grace that I learned at age 14 in New Mexico has been my favorite prayer all my life—“For food, for raiment, for life, for opportunity, for friendship and fellowship, I thank thee, O Lord!” This prayer says it all.
Mark
Fayetteville, West Virginia
I was a reticent, bashful boy of German parents, and I suffered from the backlash against Germans in movies, schools, etc. I joined Scouts at 13 in Philadelphia. It was the best thing I did to make a confident teenager and man of me. One cannot recite the Scout Oath and Law without some of it rubbing off. I became an active Patrol Leader, Senior Patrol Leader, Junior Assistant Scoutmaster, and Assistant Scoutmaster. The war halted my service, but I resumed after the war.
I was the third Eagle in the troop. Both my sons are Eagles, and three of my five nephews. Males are selfish brutes, and it is the church, females, YMCA, and Scouts that make them civilized, competent, protective, unselfish citizens.
Those who are happiest are those who serve others. Scouting teaches this. At 86, this is the first year I did not go to summer camp as a leader. From 1961 to 1982 I served as a Scoutmaster, and all the other time as Assistant Scoutmaster.
The finest men I meet are in Scouting. I have hiked the entire Appalachian Trail and many others, including crossing and re-crossing the Grand Canyon, rafting down the same, and camping in every state in the Union. I hiked the Chilkoot Pass from Alaska to Yukon. I thank Scouting for instilling in me the desire to go beyond what the ordinary man can do.
Arthur
Blue Bell, Pennslyvania
The pastor of Coxton Baptist Church (Kentucky) started a Boy Scout troop in our little mining camp. Coxton was a place where coal miners worked and lived. My daddy was a coal miner who risked his life for $3.00 a day. We were poor people. Frank Morton, the pastor of the Baptist Church, was the leader of the Scouts and he taught us things about God, and who we should honor. He took us camping and fishing. We never had Scout uniforms or hats. He taught us patience, but it did not last long. He died of cancer.
As a Boy Scout, I was ready to die for my country in memory of Boy Scouts, honor thy father and mother, and country. When I was 18 years old, I volunteered for the Army, but was turned down; my hearing was too bad. But I tried again and was turned down again.
Finally, when I was called to the draft, everyone at the draft knew me, so I failed hearing again. So I asked the boy at the hearing test to pass me. He said, “You mean you want to go?” I said, “Yes.” So he passed me to Korea. Most of the boys of Coxton went into the Army, one into the Air Force. All but one made it back.
Allen
Wabash, Indiana
I was a Boy Scout as a teenager. I joined more because my best friend did, and I enjoyed the learning (merit badges) and the camping out and having fun. My parents, I suspect, wanted me in Scouting more for the values. I learned that a Boy Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent….
I remember going out on a camping “expedition” away from the main Scout camp, Massawepie, in New York State’s Adirondack Mountains, near Long Lake, in the Adirondack State Park. I remember five Scouts went out on our own, responsible for ourselves on an overnight hike. That taught me many things, including self-reliance, leadership, responsibility, as well as the basics of camping, building a fire, and cooking meals. The Boy Scouts of America is an institution worth saving for future boys and young men.
Lee
Georgetown, Texas
I have 9 grandsons; 8 are Eagle Scouts …. My son is also an Eagle Scout. I have been in Scouting most of my adult life. I have camped with them (winter and summer); hiked with them; taken horseback trips with them; and received their “Second Miler Award.”
Boys need good leadership. When they get together it brings out the best in them, or the worst in them, depending on leadership.
One horseback trip we took down the Escalante River, near Canyonlands National Park, was an excellent place to teach the Explorer Scouts about nature. The Geological formations in that area are beautiful, the trails are fun to ride. The Scouts were very cooperative and learned a lot about caring for animals and nature. It is a great program, do not let the ACLU degrade it!
James
Cedar City, Utah
Scouting has been a part of the life of our church in Salem, VA for generations. Without the Scout program, families would lack God and country connections. No other program has proven to be more valuable to this community and its young boys.
Bob
Salem, Virginia
While serving as a Scoutmaster for several years, I was privileged to award several Scouts their Eagle badge of honor. All seven of these Scouts went on to college and all seven received their degrees. At least two received their doctorate.
Scouting did not make these young men complete. Scouting offered opportunities to grow into adulthood using many of these skills Scouting taught them. Using several of these skills and staying focused taught them how to reach their goal and not be influenced by outside pressures.
Ralph
Albany, New York
I’ve had a kind of perimeter contact with Scouts. I am 57 and lived in a close, small community in Douglaston, New York City. I remember seeing my next door neighbors’ son and his friends come and go on Scout meeting days. They were clean and happy, excited as boys are, but respectful and helpful—all the qualities I’m sure promoted by the Scouts. They collected for UNICEF at Christmas and helped put up the Hanukah Menorah in front of the local synagogue. They paraded at 4th of July events with the flag and stood Honor Guard on Memorial Day next to the elderly World War II veterans. They made me hopeful for a future American way of life.
Today, I still see Scouts at local events in College Point, New York, and Flushing, where I live now, so I know the Scout way of life still holds for boys now. They again fill me with hope in these trying times, which is why the Scouts’ way must continue as the beacon of hope it was, is, and will be.
Rachelle
Flushing, New York
My mother died when I was 13, and shortly after I joined the Scouts in Amarillo, Texas. The Scouts kept me very busy and kept my mind off of my mother’s death. We went on long hikes, overnight camps, learning Scout crafts such as First Aid, camping, care for nature, and helping in food drives, etc …. I still use some things I learned while a Scout, such as knots. I was a second class Scout for two years because I couldn’t swim, but by determination I finally learned and later I got my Lifesaving and Eagle Scout Award.
When it was time for me to go to college I got more help from my Scout handbook than from the school counselors in picking the correct course for me. I’ve never regretted following the recommendation from the handbook to study engineering. I spent 42 years in the oil fields as a petroleum engineer, and enjoying it very much.
John
Corpus Christi, Texas
My father was Cub Scout Packmaster; my mother became a Den Mother for my young brother’s Den. We learned discipline, how to follow directions; we made quite a number of different crafts. We had “O’Grady Drills” (we learned our right from our left), and it taught us when not to follow unauthorized directions. We met in a church basement as well as the Den Mothers’ homes. This all kept us working and playing closely with our parents.
In Boy Scouts, our troop (which met in an elementary school gym) was very fortunate to own a good-sized pasture just outside of town—“our” camp. It had a creek over which previous Boy Scouts and their fathers had built a bridge. It also included many trees, a high hill, several campsites where we could set up tents, build fires, and cook meals. The perimeter had a fence which we had to maintain.
I learned how to pitch a tent so rain water would drain away from the tent, and use leaves under my ground-cloth to insulate the cold ground away from my bedding and body. We found out how to lash small trees together to build a twenty-foot tower on top “our” hill. It stayed there for many years. All this was very helpful when I found myself in the U.S. Army years later.
My brother learned to dress like an Indian and dance like Indians used to dance, including the fire-hoop dance. He became a U.S. Marine pilot, flying a fighter-bomber off aircraft carriers.
Loren
Nebraska City, Nebraska
I joined the Boy Scouts in Vulcan, West Virginia, in 1927. Our troop met in a combination barbershop, pool hall, and beer hall. We practiced first aid on the poll tables—we went on one campout on Grapevine Creek where one of the Hatfield-McCoy slaughters took place. About nine o’clock the Scoutmaster, Pat Fanning, said, “Willard, my wife is pregnant and is expecting any moment, will you take charge of the troop?” I was only twelve years old at that time.
Thirty years later I met the young man that was born that night. I was a Scoutmaster for 32 years. I sent five Scouts to Japan in 1962 for 63 days, all expenses paid. I sent seven boys and six Girl Scouts to Russia in 1990 on a youth cultural exchange—the first from the U.S. The Russian Scouts had replaced some of the Red Pioneer Youth….
I was a Scoutmaster for Troop 48 for five years in Erie, Pennsylvania. I organized Troop 70 in Denver, Colorado and took them to the 5th National Jamboree in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1960.
My troop 195 in Denver was so popular that we set a limit on the number of boys we could take in—over a 20-year period we started three new troops in the neighborhood from our overflow. I received the Silver Beaver in 1964 and the Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Scouter Award in 2004. Only four have been presented in Colorado.
Willard
Parker, Colorado