Any Doper Eagle Scouts?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
121

The young chap that preceeded me by about 4 months in earning his Eagle, later served four years in the Marine Corps, and became a Sheriff’s Deputy. He was fired and did some time in the Pen for taking “indecent liberties” with underage females in a dis-used part of his County Jail. Apparently, he drove two teenage girls to the jail, told them to disrobe, and asked them sexually explicit questions to “teach them a lesson.” After being arrested for it, and while out on bail, he broke into his ex-wife’s house armed with a sidearm. His ex-wife fought back, and he shot himself in the arm with his own weapon. He got picked up again, and was sentenced to five years in prison for each of two indecent-liberties charges, suspending all but eight months of the combined term; 10 years in prison for abduction, with all but one year suspended; 20 years for breaking and entering, with all but two years suspended; and three years for using a firearm.

I recall at his Court of Honor something weird; he said his life dream was to move back to Ohio and “open a towing business” after the Marine Corps. The kid had potential, but I just thought his admission was weird. I didn’t realize how weird he was. . .

Tripler
I ended up in the Air Force, mostly working with Marines when overseas. I turned out alright. :smiley:

122

Another Eagle here- 1970, I rhink. Always wanted OA like my good friend and later college room mate, but never got selected. Still bugs me a bit if I happen to think of it…

123

Eagle Scout 1987 here. Troop 84 Cape May, New Jersey.
1989 National Jamboree plus Philmont.

Then my son got old enough to be a Tiger Cub, and awoke the inner Eagle. Decided to be Cubmaster and totally love it! I went to Wood Badge (Is there a Bobwhite in the house?) and now lead the 2nd largest pack in Hawaii.

124

I just finally got around to sewing a 50 Miler patch onto my computer backpack; I’ve had it sitting around for awhile now. It wasn’t issued to me by the Boy Scouts.

When I was an Eagle, my Scoutmaster called me aside and spoke to me in private. “I’m going to honor these merit badges and you’ll receive your bronze palm, but these are the last merit badges I’m going to recognize if you persist in going off on your own to get them. Merit badges should be earned as a group activity. You should be earning the same ones as the other scouts in the troop.”

So I’m looking at him like WTF?!? I went out of my own initiative, sought out the approved merit badge counselors or whatever they were called and did the tasks or learned the material… and somehow this was a bad thing? I thought the way he preferred our troop to do things was a bad idea, to run all the scouts through a merit badge factory, spoon-feeding everyone the accomplishments and answers one step at a time and then everyone has the same badges. But he was seriously into this team-building thing and wanting all the Boy Scout experiences to bring us together.

Then he said there was other stuff he was unhappy about: “I know the kind of people you spend your time with. Boy Scouts is no place for people who use illegal drugs. I don’t want you bringing any of that element into my troop.”

Which I didn’t, I never brought marijuana to any scout function. But I could sort of see his point, if that’s what was actually bothering him. I knew I wasn’t a vector for introducing the younger scouts to pot smoking but he couldn’t know that with any confidence. (The truth of the matter was that about half the high-school aged Scouts smoked pot and more than a few of the junior-high aged ones as well)

But he went on. The marijuana was not the only thing bothering him either. “What was that, with your Mile Swim, what kind of nonsense is that? You should be doing Mile Swim with the troop, when we got to it, and what did you do instead? You went to your mommy! What is this, Cub Scouts? Boy Scouts have no business going to their mothers to get certified for badges and awards. And while I’m at it, what were you thinking on that camping trip, cooking that, what was it, cheese fondue? That is not appropriate food for boys to eat on a camping trip. That is not Boy Scout food! You may think this is all some kind of game and you can just do as you want, but Scouting plays a role in helping boys grow up to be men. Frankly, I don’t think you belong here.”
I’m not saying this was completely and totally an Example A of “Boy Scouts kick out an Eagle Scout for reasons of homophobia”, but there were definitely overtones of it. It might more fairly be characterized as “A Scoutmaster kicks out Eagle Scout for not being a ‘regular’ boy and for being individualistic instead of fitting right in”.

Decades later I walked 50 miles in a day, mostly to have the bragging rights of being able to say that I walked 50 miles in a day, but prompted by having come close to it once before sort of by accident and realizing that I probably could if I set out to.

Obtaining the 50 Miler patch via backchannel means and sewing it on is a mixed-bag statement: it’s me reclaiming my scouting legacy from the dust into which this clown of a Scoutmaster cast it so long ago, and within that is both pride and rebellion.

125

I always wanted to get to Philmont, and was insanely jealous of the two or three guys from my Troop who got to go. Funny thing is now I’m living 125 miles away from it.

Here’s a question for the group: How often do you use skills learned as a result of earning Eagle Scout?

Tripler
Use them daily? Emergency uses? Etc.?

126

I am not an Eagle Scout, and indeed I was never in Boy Scouts, but both my boys are. One is 15 and is First Class, the other is 12 and still a Scout.

I’m a bit disappointed as neither one seems particularly interested in continuing. My youngest could’ve made Tenderfoot just a month or two after crossing over, but has shown zero interest in doing so. We visited another troop to see if it would be a better fit, and he threw a fit and complained the entire time.

We’re taking a rather long road trip beginning next week, and will be gone from out weekly Troop meetings for a month. While we’re gone we’ll need to have a pretty serious talk with the boys and determine if they’re still interested in Scouts and if it’s worth it to continue.

Personally I always enjoyed being an Assistant Scoutmaster, but our troop has gone downhill in the past couple of years (and is sliding headlong into the gutter, even moreso since I started that thread), and the Scoutmaster will be leaving soon. The man who will take his place (not that there’s been any discussion in the committee about this, mind—it’s just been decided by the committee chair and his wife, the treasurer) is a festering pile of pig shit and under no circumstances will we stay in the troop with him in command.

I like the BSA as an organization. I work in a reform school and frankly see some of the worst kids our society has produced. Going to the weekly Scout meeting and seeing boys who actually care about their community, get along with each other, and have real goals is pretty nice. I just wish my boys liked it as much as I do.

127

As an Eagle Scout, former Scoutmaster, and current BSA leader (Assistant Scoutmaster and Troop Committee member), please let me say that this Scoutmaster’s attitude is insane. While Scouting definitely encourages teamwork and working together in groups (like the use of the patrol system), there is absolutely nothing that says that a motivated Scout can’t go off and earn whatever badges he (or now she) wants to. Merit badges absolutely do NOT need to be “earned as a group activity.”

If I ever got wind of something like this, I’d report the Scoutmaster to the local district and/or council so that he could be set straight.

The Scouts in our troop cook all kinds of things (although options are typically more limited due to logistical concerns on a remote backpacking trip, for example). On a normal campout with our troop trailer and cooking stoves available, our Scouts often try to see which patrol can come up with the most elaborate meal. One of their favorites is Chicken Cordon Bleu, made from scratch and baked in a cast iron Dutch oven. They also frequently make quiche (though usually with Swiss cheese and bacon, as opposed to using any vegetables).

But this former Scoutmaster you had sounds like a real piece of work. :rolleyes: What the hell is “Boy Scout food,” anyway? :confused:

128

Yeah, I wanted to get the badges that no one else in our area ever had on their sash. I wanted to get the 4-H kind of badges like Scouts from rural Iowa would get, like Hog Production, and esoteric things like Beekeeping or Bookbinding.

I liked the smaller troop I’d been in as a younger kid in Valdosta GA. We had one official adult leader and he only made it to about one in every four meetings. The older scouts ran the troop. They made a bit too much of a fetish of military regimental shit, but at least it was us running our own show, and they taught me things and were pretty fair considering I was a misfit kind of kid. The troop of the Scoutmaster described above had way too many adult leaders all running around visualizing themselves as Leaders of Men and turning the whole experience into a goddam babysitting service.

Given the combo of “fondue isn’t Boy Scout food!” and “you went to your mommy for Mile Swim certification?” I do think he had a creepy thing going on about masculinity.

129

Which is perfectly fine. The whole point of offering 137 different merit badges is to give Scouts the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of subjects, from American Business to Woodwork.

I always wanted to get the Rabbit Raising merit badge. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it has been discontinued (along with Beekeeping).

Probably the strangest merit badge I did get was the Pulp and Paper merit badge, which is still offered. My son got the Carpentry merit badge, which doesn’t sound all that unusual – the unusual part was that it was one of the original merit badges from 1911 that was discontinued in 1952 (probably because of the overlap with Woodwork), and subsequently brought back in 2010 for one year only to celebrate the 100th anniversary of BSA.

Here is an article on some other discontinued merit badges.

Sure sounds that way.

130

I’d say I benefit from the values I learned as a Boy Scout daily, but the skills, perhaps a little less frequently, maybe weekly or a few times a month, at least during the summer months.

131

Here.

132

When I was a Scout nearly 1/4 of the merit badges were related to agriculture. My all-time favorite merit badge title was “Grasses, Legumes, and Forage Crops”.

For real.

133

I’m sorry you didn’t get there. I went to Philmont the summer between my high school graduation and starting college, and still have great memories of it (despite one of our patrol members coming down with altitude sickness, and the entire patrol once running seriously and worryingly low on water). The awesome mountain scenery, the chance to physically challenge myself, the activities along the way (including rapelling and panning for gold), the beautiful star-filled night skies - all wonderful. I’m still in touch with three of the guys from my patrol.

Agreed. I still try to Do a Good Turn Daily, and remain active in civics and Scouts.

Also strongly agreed.

134

More or less daily: Knots. To this day Mrs. Cretin often remarks on how handy my knowledge of knots comes in. To a lesser degree, splices and lashings as well.

Other skills I’ve appreciated during the 52 years since I left scouting: swimming, canoeing, sailing, first aid, knife and axe use, and various aspects of camping (ranging from hardcore wilderness backpacking treks in my 20’s and 30’s, to travel trailer boondocking as I near 70.

Boy Scouting and then Sea Scouting were the most formative experiences of my pre-adult life.

135

Bumped.

Good on them!

136

Yes. I am an Eagle scout.

I was made an eagle on the same evening as David “Bart” Barbeito. He went on to head the Pagans’ Motorcycle Club.

Good times.

137

I saw this earlier and I’m not afraid to admit I got a little misty. Love to see this kind of progress.

138

I loved being a Scout. The wilderness camping, week-long canoe trips (in Almost-Canada yet), scuba diving (including night dives in the Keys!)… and in Explorer Scouts, we ran First Aid field “hospitals” as part of the Red Cross.

But I really didn’t care that I made Eagle. It was just a side-effect of spending every weekend of junior high on campouts or service projects. With a great group of guys (some of which I still do stuff with), and leaders who were great role models… yes, even the gay ones.

What made me laugh at the time were the “grandpa” leaders. The WW2 vets who were too old to camp, but they’d show up at meetings and give us outdated advice like “You have to make Eagle Scout, so you can put it on your resume. You’ll be able to walk into IBM or Boeing, and when they hear you have 21 merit badges they’ll say ‘Welcome aboard, Scout!’”
There was one I could picture making those “fondue-phobic” comments upthread…

Almost never… except occasionally I’ll surprise myself with something like steering a canoe out of a rapids. Or my knowledge of swear words in Morse Code (the easiest letters are S, H, I, T, E, L, P, N). Oh, and I can get a raging campfire going using wet twigs and small bills (and my Eagle Scout Zippo).

eta: Oh, I forgot! I also worked at a BSA camp (Indian Mound) back in the 60s. Washed dishes from 7am to 9 pm, our $10/wk. came to 9¢/hour!

139

Oh, just dug out my Eagle sash, and it’s full of offbeat merit badges.

See, the guys in my patrol were all nerdy misfits. Like, we made up our own patrol name/animal (no “Wolf Patrol” for us) … and I just remembered, I designed my first logo for the badge! See, it was a typographic solution, an animal silhouette was too cliché… never mind.

Anyhow, we also loved to find obscure badges to work on. Some of them were too easy (“Fingerprinting” took one Saturday morning at the Cop Shop), but some were surprisingly time-consuming (“Atomic Energy” ended up being eight weeks of meeting downtown at the university with a Doc Brown nuclear scientist, who’d give us homework full of math, and electron orbitals, and gamma radiation… a lot of work for pre-teens).

We had a reunion a while ago, and even though our dads (the Scoutmasters) had “normal” jobs, none of the guys do. We’re all successful, but at doing weird stuff… the “misfit-ness” paid off.

140

That’s the kind of Scout story I love to hear!