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My scouting career began on my twelfth birthday in December 1944. It was an exciting day and I had spent weeks, perhaps months, preparing for my Tenderfoot Badge. I had learned the Boy Scout oath and laws, saying then over and over again when I went to bed until I could quote them in my sleep. I knew the significance of the Scout Badge and Uniform, the etiquette and honor to be shown the flag of the United States of America. I could tie 12  knots when only 8 were required! The smidgen of first aid required and all the rest! I was loaded for bear and I cherished my Tenderfoot badge as if it was a diamond as big as a baseball; as I did those from Tenderfoot to the prized Eagle, the second in my hometown to receive one.

I never had a complete Boy Scout uniform until I was grown and an adult scouter. America was coming out of the great depression and Europe as well as the Islands of the Pacific were engulfed in a world war, the second of the twentieth century. Money was scarce as hen's teeth and my first Scout knife was secondhand. While I did not have a complete uniform, I did have bits and pieces, a shirt here and a cap there and always a neckerchief with the colors of our troop. That didn't stop me from earning the Eagle rank, the highest in scouting, the Order of the Arrow (the Brotherhood of boy scout honor campers), the first God and Country  Award (medal) in the state of Alabama.

As an adult following my Korean time as a Hospital Corpsman (Petty Officer 2nd class as a FMF Corpsman with the U.S. MARINE CORPS-3rd Marines). I realized it was pay back time for all the adults who helped and encouraged me. By then I was a minister in the Methodist Church and organized Scout troops all over the northern portion of Alabama. As an adult I also earned the Scouter's Key and participated in International Wood Badge, the highest adult training in Scouting. I am a member of the NESA, The National Eagle Scout Association.

       Scouter's Key              Scout Badges            Wood Badge Certificate           God & Country          National Eagle Scout Award   

  
   Order of the Arrow Patches   Eagle Patch

 
Wood Badge Shoulder Patch     Boy Scout   National Eagle Scout Association   Wood Badge Beads

Email me Click on the NESA Badge

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