[Whenever I meet Scouts] I try to get a word to see what they are
thinking about, and what their morale is. And it is always at the top.
They get this morale, why? Because they are trained or they are
taught that they can render a service. Because the way these boys are
growing up is to believe there is an honor and a satisfaction in doing a
service for others. To my mind, that is the great thing about Scouting. It
doesn't make any difference whether they wrap up their bed-rolls just right,
or pitch their tent exactly right, or whether they do their cookout and burn
the eggs and the bacon not fit to eat. As long as they have that feeling
and that development--if they get the same feeling that we did when we read
in our Bibles the Parable of the Good Samaritan and then as time comes
along, if they individually and collectively begin to think of their nation
in part as a "good Samaritan", doing the decent thing in this world, then I
will tell you: Scouting is indeed doing something for all of us that is not
only necessary but I would say vital to our vigor as a nation based upon a
religious concept, but is ready to take on its own shoulders its duty with
respect to itself, with respect to those that are less fortunate. Only in this way, in my opinion, is America going to be able to lead the way to that
goal that mankind has sought so long, and so far so futilely, a peace with
honor and with justice."
--President Eisenhower from a 1960 speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of the BSA (his son was a scout)
--John Wayne in a speech during one of his last public appearancesa benefit for a land purchase for a Scout Reservation called John Wayne Outpost Camp
Scouting is Tops
As America's No. 1 values program for youth, Scouting helps strengthen character, develops good citizenship, and enhances both mental and physical fitness among its participants. Scouting has helped countless youths from broken families by providing them with the moral discipline and leadership they would have otherwise lacked.
--Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.
What Scouts say they've learned
- 84% of former Scouts believe that the values
they learned in Scouting remained important in
their adult lives
- 75% said Scouting helped them be better
leaders
- 89% said that Scouting taught them to take
better care of the environment
- 88% said that Scouting taught them to get
along with and respect others
--Louis Harris poll (printed in The Lion, Sept 2001)
The Greatest
Lions clubs in the United States have partnered with the Boy Scouts of America in serving youth since the early 1920's. Founder Melvin Jones stated in his 1923 Annual Report that Scouting was "the greatest single undertaking of local clubs."
--The Lion Magazine, Sept 2001
The Scout Handbook
". . .I happened upon a copy of what had been the most influential book of my boyhood, misfiled on a shelf of used novels in one of those dusty bookstores that smells of cats, I got the sort of spiritual jolt Christians must experience when they see the Shroud of Turin. . .the 1959 edition of The Boy Scout Handbook."
--Bill Vaughn, writer for Outside Magazine, Feb 2002
Scouting's Alumni
- 89% of the initial astronaut
corps
- 85% of senior class presidents
- 85% of student council
presidents
- 75% of Rhodes scholars
- 70% of US Naval Academy
graduates
- 70% of the men listed in Who's
Who in America
--Source: BSA
Positive role models
Scouting also provides boys in disadvantaged communities with perhaps the only male role models in their lives. To deny support to the Scout movement is to contribute to conditions that foster delinquency and anti-social conduct.
--Edwin Meese III, former attorney general of the United States
Boy Scouts of America
Miwok District
Redwood Empire Council
Famous Quotations
Donald stayed in scouting, and to this day he is grateful for the program, for what scout leaders do, and for the service scouting provides to the community.
Donald H. Rumsfeld was sworn in as the 21st Secretary of Defense on January 20, 2001. Before assuming his present post, the former Navy pilot had also served as the 13th Secretary of Defense, White House Chief of Staff, U.S. Ambassador to NATO, U.S. Congressman and chief executive officer of two Fortune 500 companies.
Discipline, Goal Setting, Service and Good Behavior
Over 70% of astronauts have an association with scouting, and over 15% of astronauts are Eagle Scouts, including Jim Lovell (Apollo 13) and Richard O. Covey. A veteran of four space flights, Covey says that what scouting did for him was to provide him with "discipline, goal setting, service, and good behavior."
Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld was a Cub Scout back in 1941. He was also a Boy Scout, Explorer, Eagle Scout, and worked at Philmont Scout Camp. As a teen, he almost quit scouting, but his dad told him: Sure, quit if you want. Quitting is an easy thing to do. If you can quit this, you can quit many other things. Pretty soon you'll define yourself not by what you've done, but by what you've quit.
Grateful for what scout leaders
The twelve points of the Scout Law are 'nice words.' Trouble is, we learn them so young we sometimes don't get all the understanding that goes with them. I take care of that in my family. As each boy reaches Scout age, I make sure he learns the Scout Law. Then I break it down for him, with a few things I have picked up in more than half a century since I learned it.
Courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful. . .
One of the best
"I think the character that you learn in Scouting—working together, being honest with each other, being close knit ... and depending on one another, on our camping trips and doing things—all these things build character in a young man that he takes with him into adulthood and makes him a much better citizen. And that's why Scouting to me has always been an organization I've always wanted to help. I think it's one of the best youth organizations that we ... have in this country."
--James A. Lovell Jr., President, Lovell Communications, and Mission Astronaut, Apollo 13
