ilduncans

Despite a logistical near-catastrophe (Veterans' cemetary is not the same place as Veterans' Memorial Park, but fortunately less than a mile apart), the ceremony came off wonderfully. I only wish I had a way to connect a few more of our units with their former members who have fallen in the service of our nation. With the sincere hope that no one has any need of it, I would be happy to share the ceremony we composed and used. (just drop a reply here, and I get an email).

Indeed -- it appears for this context to be the case that "once a Scout, always a Scout." Interestingly, BSA do not appear to have any documented requirements around this unit recognition. In fact in all our preparations, we found almost nothing to assist us in preparing for this. Even the museum came up empty on this one. Despite some heroic efforts, all national could provide was one name of a military officer that had ordered a pair of gold stars for another unit. By the time this bit of information was received, we had already written our own ceremony and circulated it back to the local folks in Boulder Dam Area Council. The local units have been OUTSTANDING in their support of this effort, arranging for media coverage (including Boys' Life magazine!) We're actually on our way to the airport shortly to fly out for the ceremony this coming Tuesday (Veterens' Day, 11-Nov), at 2pm in the Veterans' Memorial Park in Boulder City, NV. All are welcome to join us!

Thanks, all, for the pointers. So far, the woman who took my initial call to the Boy Scout Division, (National), has been extremely helpful, and was working with the Museum (even though it is a separate entity, as was pointed out), and separately was going to work with the Supply Division to see if we could determine if any others had been purchased in recent history. Very helpful folks down there!

In the insignia guide, on the page near the back where it discusses flags, there is a paragraph on memorial gold stars which may be placed on a unit flag in memory of a former scout who died in the service of his country. On Veteran's Day I am going to participate with a Pack & Troop in a ceremony with the family to present these stars in memory of a former scout who was killed in action in Afghanistan. I have ordered the stars from the supply division already. Unfortunately, there appears to be little/no background on this award -- My question is two-fold 1> Is there any resource in existance that might help in putting together this ceremony. (any unit who has ever done this?) 2> What is the BSA position on this unit recognition? When did we start doing this, and why do we do it? I can write my own answers and write my own ceremony ... but am looking for inputs from others. I have already contacted my district and council professional staff, visited with the oldest and wisest volunteers, and been directed to the Boy Scout Division at national (who are visiting with historians at the museum in Irving today) ... this unit recognition appears to have been forgotten in the mists of time. The only people I have found who are aware of this unit recognition have not seen it in use since the post-WW2 era. This forum has the distinction of being the --only-- match I have found on the web: http://www.scouter.com/archives/Scouts-L/199908/0003.asp Any help that you can provide would be greatly appreciated.