The Huntsville Item, Huntsville, TX

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January 27, 2010

The Eagle Scout: Boy Scout’s highest award

By Will Oliver

On Feb. 8, the Boy Scouts of America will celebrate its 100th birthday, and for nearly 100 of those years, the Eagle Award has been the highest rank in Boy Scouts.

It is a natural question after finding out one was a Boy Scout to ask, “Are you an Eagle Scout?”

Those who earned it will proudly state they are an Eagle.

Note the present tense, for “once an Eagle, always an Eagle.” And if they say no, you will almost always hear the regret in their voice for not having obtained that rank.

It is, after all, a difficult rank to earn.

Boy Scouts must progress through a series of other ranks, learn many skills, volunteer their time to service, earn 21 merit badges, and finally, perform a major project for the community.

It is no wonder that less than two percent of all Boy Scouts ever earn that coveted rank.

Of the 112 estimated members of the Boy Scouts over the past 100 years, only slightly over 2 million have earned the Eagle.

When Scouting first began in England under Lord Baden-Powell, there was no Eagle rank, the top award was the Wolf Badge.

When the Boy Scouts were incorporated in the United States on Feb. 8, 1910, in order to make it more American, the noble Eagle was chosen as the highest rank.

The first recipient of the Eagle Award was Arthur Rose Eldred, a member of Troop 1 in Oceanside, N.Y., a troop founded by his brother Hubert in November 1910.

The younger Eldred earned his 21st merit badge in April 1912 at the age of 16. On Aug. 21 of that year, he was notified by the chief scout executive that he was the BSA’s first Eagle Scout.

Eldred’s Eagle medal, now on display at the National Scouting Museum in Irving in North Texas, was rather crudely modeled, and the silver coating easily wore off the bronze scroll and pendant.

Nevertheless, the medal had an impressive and dignified look that’s been retained, with only minor variations, for nearly 100 years.

In those 100 years there have been a number of boys who earned their Eagle Award and went on to accomplish great things: Gerald Ford became the 38th President of the United States; Steven Spielberg a famous director; and both Neil Armstrong and James Lovell, famous American astronauts.

In 1913, W.E. Merrem of Shiner was not only the first Eagle Scout from Texas, but also the first Eagle Scout west of the Mississippi River.

Since then, other Texans of notoriety have also earned the rank of Eagle, including current Gov. Rick Perry, Congressman J.J. Pickle, former District Attorney Ronald Dale “Ronnie” Earle and Sen. Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr.

Right here in Huntsville, a number of our community leaders have also earned the Eagle Award, including Thomas Leeper of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, council members Mac Woodward and Tom Cole, as well as Tom Rogers, a historian at Lone Star College.

On Feb. 6 in the LSC Ballroom at Sam Houston State University, during the 100th Boy Scout Anniversary Banquet, Eagle Scouts in attendance will be recognized for their achievement.

Tickets may be purchased through Feb. 1 at Tangent Signs on 11th Street.

Texas Eagles Scouts will also be recognized in a special display at the 100 Years of Boy Scout Memorabilia Exhibit, opening Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. and running through Feb. 28 at the Walker Education Center on 19th Street.

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