Famous/infamous Eagle Scouts

[GernBlansten]

Read in the news today that Gerald Ford entered the hospital for testing. I hope things are OK, but at 93, who knows. Many here know that Ford was the only President who was an Eagle scout. This prompted me to look up some other famous Eagle scouts. The list is impressive but one almost made me fall out of my chair.

source: http://usscouts.org/usscouts/eagle/bsfamous.html

 

Micheal Moore (filmmaker)

 

Also note a large contingent of Presidential candidates:

Richard Luger

Micheal Dukakis

Lloyd Bentsen

H. Ross Perot

Thomas Foley

Lamar Alexander

Richard A. Gephardt

Sam Nunn

 

Kinda dispels the notion that most scouts are Republicans, doesn't it?

 

 

 

 

[SR540Beaver]

Actually, I've always looked at scouting as fairly apolitical. The current "conservative" movement in the country has co-opted anything and everything traditional, patriotic and religious from mom and apple pie to scouting, the military and God and claimed them exclusively as their own. Not true. Liberal or Democrat does not equate to terrorist, atheist or traitor no matter how many times the radio, TV, columnists and book based pundits try to drill it into the American psyche.

 

Look at the kids and parents in your troop. Can you honestly say they are all steroetypical, carbon copy, cookie cutter "conservatives". They certainly are not in our troop. Ours runs from one end of the spectrum to the other. Heck, one of the scouters in our old troop was a legitimate, honest to goodness old hippy. He had long hair, a long beard and missing teeth. His dream was to someday buy a sqaure mile of land to get away from it all and "do his own thing". I can only imagine what his main crop would have been.

[packsaddle]

Right on, Beaver! When I survey the families and leaders in our unit, the vast majority of those who actually take the time to SERVE the unit are 'bleeding heart liberal' types, most of whom hold their noses regarding BSA policy on certain issues and serve anyway.

Regarding one of the most esteemed eagles:

http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/802:589/1/Michael_Moore.htm

Another local boy makes good, perhaps helped by values he learned in scouting.

[packsaddle]

One more thing (that's 'more', not 'Moore', tee hee): Jimmy Carter was a scouter. Before he was President, among other things he served as a scoutmaster making him a full member of BSA at that time.

 

Our current POTUS was a cub scout but that was presumably before he spent the next few decades drunk. Hope scouting values didn't contribute to that.

 

LBJ was an active leader, serving on his council's exploring committee.

 

JFK had been a scout in his youth.

 

Eisenhour was a member of the national executive board.

 

When Franklin D. Roosevelt died, he had a record of 24 years of service in scouting. Among other things he had been president of the Greater New York Councils.

 

After he left the presidency (BSA hadn't started during his presidency), Teddy Roosevelt was a committeeman for troop 39, Oyster Bay, NY.

[Lifeguard]

I would have to agree that, as a youth, Scouting was absolutely apolitical, and I would imagine that most youth don't look at the skills and lessons they learn in their time in the BSA as a political move, like someone working in a campaign. Hopefully, scouts can just be kids learning good skills of all kinds, and not be inundated with political views from either side.

 

If we are going to celebrate famous Eagles, why don't we offer up only those that don't make their living as hypocrites making fake documentaries. I don't recall lies and misinformation being part of scouting. Steven Spielberg, for example, is by far more famous (and not a conservative) and makes good films.

 

Let's also not forget the tremendous scouts and scouters that are doing great things everyday that we never hear about.

 

Lifeguard

[LongHaul]

Let's also not forget Eagle Scout John Glenn first American to orbit. Six out of the Seven Mercury Astronauts had been in scouting. When one thinks of the effort expended to find the best America could offer for the new space program and know that 6 of 7 of the final crew had been in scouting it speaks volumes. Deke Slayton was the only non scout from the Mercury group and it took him 15 years to get into space, heart condition ya sure:)

LongHaul

[BrentAllen]

From http://members.cox.net/scouting179/Eagle%20Famous.htm

FAMOUS EAGLE SCOUTS:

 

NAME EAGLE CLASS NOTEWORTHY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

 

Neil Armstrong 1947 astronaut, first man on moon - commander of Apollo 11's lunar module, from Wapakoneta, OH; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

Albert Belle c. 1982 outfielder, Chicago White Sox

 

William 'Bill' W. Bradley 1957 Pro basketball star, NY Knicks and US Senator from New Jersey, US Presidential candidate; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

James S. Brady 1955 Press Secretary to President Reagan; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

Roger B. Chaffee c. 1951 Astronaut, died in the Apollo 1 launch pad fire

 

George Thomas Coker 1959 Vietnam-era POW, held in "Hanoi Hilton" and other camps for 6 1/2 years (1966-1973), briefly escaped in 1970, regarded as a leader among his fellow POWs, Bombadier/Navigator in an A6 Intruder, retired as a Navy Commander, an OA Vigil member, still active in Scouting in Tidewater Council BSA as of 2005. Commander of local POW Association in 2005. Says that the values he learned in Scouting are one of the things that helped him get through his time as a POW - made Eagle in Linden, NJ; (approved May 2005) DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient, resides in Tidewater Council

 

Richard O. Covey 1960 President of Boeing Service Company, USAF Academy graduate, COL in USAF, flew 339 combat missions in Vietnam, astronaut who flew 4 shuttle missions, awarded 5 Distinguished Flying Crosses, father Charles D. Covey is an Eagle too, appeared on one episode of "Home Improvement" with fellow Eagle Scout Ken Bowersox; (awarded in 2005) DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

William C. Devries c. 1959 MD, surgeon and educator, transplanted first artificial heart

 

Arthur Rose Eldred 1912 First Eagle Scout, Aug 21st, 1912

 

Robert E. Femoyer c. 1940 One of only three known Eagle Scouts who also received the Congressional Medal of Honor (others are Fluckey and Paige). During World War II he enlisted in the Army Air Force and is the only navigator awarded the Medal of Honor. On a bombing mission over Germany, he was wounded by enemy aircraft fire, which seriously damaged his B-17 bomber. In spite of extreme pain and great loss of blood he refused morphine in order to keep his mental faculties clear. For two and half-hours he guided the lone bomber through six changes in course around enemy antiaircraft concentrations. Bleeding steadily he worked with amazing clarity despite pain described as "almost beyond the realm of human endurance". As the crippled aircraft crossed safely over the English Channel, 2nd Lieutenant Robert Femoyer finally allowed an injection of morphine. Thirty minutes after landing he died of wounds.

 

Gene Fluckey c. 1920 One of only three known Eagle Scouts who also received the Congressional Medal of Honor (others are Femoyer and Paige). REAR ADMIRAL, US Navy. Also received 4 Navy crosses while a submarine officer in WWII. While Commanding Officer of the USS Barb in WWII, his sub sank more Japanese vessels than any other sub in WWII. He developed several innovative tactics during the war. For a what was the only US commando mission on one of the home Japanese islands during the war, one of the requirements was that half the men had to have been Boy Scouts as he knew they knew how to handles themselves in the woods and could navigate to the target via land and handle any emergency.

 

Gerald Rudolf Ford 1927 U.S. Vice President & 38th President (1st Eagle to be Pres.), "Junior" Ford of Troop 15, Grand Rapids, MI, 26 MBs--including Civics, "Boy Scouts was invaluable in shaping my life."; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

J. Steven Fossett 1957 Crossed the Earth solo on 6th attempt in a hot air ballon, won the Chicago to Mackinaw boat races, competed in the Iditorad dog race, and competed in several iron man triathlons, and among other things lives the Scouting mottos both Cub and Boy Scout by doing his best and being prepared; on 03 Mar 2005 - first nonstop, solo, non-refueling plane circumnavigation of the world; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

William Denby Hanna 1924 Eagle at age 14, animator and producer, is the Hanna in Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, died in 2001; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

J. D. Hayworth c. 1974 US Representative from Arizona, fought the 2004 ACLU-forced DOD decision for military bases not to sponsor BSA units

 

Alexander Holsinger c. 1980 Of Normal, Ill. Became the One Millionth Eagle Scout

 

Alfred Kinsey, Dr. c. 1912 insect biologist, human behavior researcher

 

Howard Charles Lincoln 1955 Seattle Mariners baseball team, Chairman and CEO; posed for Rockwell's painting "The Scoutmaste"; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

James Arthur Lovell, Jr. 1943 Career Navy pilot and astronaut. President of NESA. Flew on Gemini 7, 12 & Apollo 8, 13. Apollo 13 Mission Commander. Business executive; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

John Willard Marriott, Jr. 1947 President and Chairman of the Board, Marriott Corp.; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

William McCool Space Shuttle Columbia Pilot who died upon reentry 01 Feb 2003

 

Jim Mora 1950 Head Coach, New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts. Son Jim Jr. was Asst. Coach of the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers football teams and head coach of the Atlanta Falcons; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

Jay North 1928 Author of Superman

 

Ellison S. Onizuka 1964 Astronaut who perished aboard the space shuttle Challenger

 

Steven S. Oswald 1967 Astronaut, Navy Rear Admiral; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

Mitchell Paige 1936 One of only three known Eagle Scouts who also received the Congressional Medal of Honor (others are Femoyer and Fluckey). Walked 200 miles to enlist in Marines on 18th birthday in 1936, retired as Colonel, received Medal Of Honor for combat action on Guadalcanal in 1942 as a platoon sergeant. Investigated fake Medal of Honor recipients. Eagle awarded/presented on 24 March 2003 after being verified because he'd not received it in 1936 because he'd gone off to join the Marines. Died November 17, 2003.; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

Henry Ross Perot 1943 self-made billionaire and U.S. Presidential candidate, founder of Reform Party, Electronic Data Systems Corp., and The Perot Group; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

James D. Rogers 1965 CEO of Kampgrounds of America; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

Donald H. Rumsfeld 1949 US Secretary of Defense under two US Presidents; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

Robert Lee Scott, Jr. 1923 WWII fighter pilot ace with the Flying Tigers; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

William S. Sessions 1947 former FBI director; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

Paul Siple c. 1925 Sea Scout too; accompanied Commander Byrd on expedition to Antarctica, 1928; invented the Wind Chill factor

 

Steven Spielberg 1961 Movie producer and director, from Scottsdale, AZ, made a movie of his troop while getting Photography MB; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

John Tesh c. 1967 TV celebrity, singer, pianist, and radio talk show host

 

Richard H. Truly 1952 Astronaut, Sky Lab, Apollo-Soyuez; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

Samuel Moore Walton 1934 Businessman, Retailer, Chairman and CEO of Walmart; Eagle Scout at age 13, died prior to 2000; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

William Childs Westmoreland 1930 General; Commander U.S. forces, Vietnam War; DISTINGUISHED EAGLE SCOUT AWARD recipient

 

Jim Whittaker c. 1945 First American to scale Mount Everest, 01 May 1963; led first American ascent of K2, the 2nd highest mountain on Earth; part of many other mountain expeditions; president and CEO of Recreational Equipment Inc (REI)

 

 

 

FAMOUS/NOTABLE SCOUTS, but not Eagles:

 

Jimmy Buffett musician and singer

 

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton Cub Scout, U. S. President

 

Watler Cronkite Scout, but NOT an Eagle as reported by some-verified with NESA; Journalist, anchorman and commentator for CBS News

 

Jack Elam actor, was blinded in the left eye (hence his 'wandering' eye) by a pen during a scuffle at a Troop meeting

 

Harrison Ford Life Scout, taught Reptile Study, actor - played "Indiana Jones"

 

Bill Gates Life Scout, founder of Microsoft Corporation

 

Dan Jansen Olympic Gold Medal-Speed Skating, 1994 Olympics, Lillihammer

 

Bruce Jenner Olympic Decathlete, Gold Medalist

 

Michael Jordan Cub Scout, pro basketball player with the NBA, NBA Hall Of Fame member

 

John Fitzgerald Kennedy Star Scout, first US President who was a Scout

 

Branford Marsalis Life Scout, Jazz Musician

 

Norm Mineta - Japanese-American, spent WWII as a Boy Scout in an internment camp in Wyoming, where he met Alan Simpson, who was a Boy Scout in a troop in Cody, WY that made visits to their fellow Scouts in the camp. Norm later became mayor of San Jose, CA; a member of the US Congress, and later a Democratic Cabinet member (Sec. of Transportation) of Republican Pres. George W. Bush in 2001-2004. Also see Alan Simpson, who was a long time friend of Norm's.

 

Ronald Wilson Reagan not sure if he was a Scout as a youth, BUT......40th U. S.President, became involved in Scouting with the Golden Empire Council in Sacramento, Calif., while serving as governor of the state. During his 8 years in office, he chaired Project SOAR (Save Our American Resources), served as membership roundup chairman, participated in annual Report to the Governor ceremonies, and served on the council's advisory board. For his service to youth, he was awarded the Silver Beaver Award. As a member of the Los Angeles Area Council, he served as Scoutorama chairman, as a speaker for the council recognition dinner, and as a sustaining member.

 

Richard Roundtree actor - "Shaft"

 

Nolan Ryan Professional baseball player

 

Alan Simpson member of a troop in Cody, WY in WWII that visited fellow Scouts in a Japanese-American internment camp near Cody, where he met Norm Mineta, who was a long time friend. Alan became a Republican Senator from WY and helped Norm pass the Japanese-American Compensation Act. This story appeared in the Jan-Feb 2002 issue of Scouting Magazine.

 

Mark Spitz Seven Gold Medals-Swimming, 1972 Munich Olympic Games

 

James "Jimmy" Maitland Stewart Scout, but NOT an Eagle as reported by some-verified with NESA; actor, nominated for 4 Oscars, won one, USAF Brigadier General (mostly reserves), B-17 pilot over Europe in WWII, worked with Scouting as an adult

 

Joe Theisman Life Scout, former NFL quarterback - Washington Redskins, sportscaster

 

John Warner US Senator from Virginia, WWII and Korean War veteran

 

[Trevorum]

I thought Jay North was Dennis the Menace...

[GernBlansten]

It has been reported that Charles Manson was an Eagle scout, but truth is he only got Life.

 

---Rim shot---

 

 

[bt01]

John Glen is not an Eagle Scout.

 

Senator Glenn not an Eagle Scout

In Scouting magazine's March-April 2002 article about activities for Space Day, the caption with the photograph showing Senator John Glenn and a group of Boy Scouts refers to "Senator John Glenn, an Eagle Scout." As a result of my effort to verify this, I received the following e-mail from Senator Glenn's office at Ohio State University:

 

"...Senator Glenn was not an Eagle Scout. When he was a boy, New Concord, Ohio, did not have a Scout troop, [but] Senator Glenn and his pals organized themselves into something like the Scouts...[sincerely], Mary Jane Veno."

 

Terry Calderwood

Chesterfield, Mo.

Thank you for the correction. In composing the caption, Scouting magazine confused John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit the earth, with Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, who is an Eagle Scout.

 

http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0209/d-lett.html

 

[jmenand]

Quote: "Kinda dispels the notion that most scouts are Republicans, doesn't it?"

 

Unfortunately it seems to prove that eagles are incapable of winning the presidency, eh?

[Fuzzy Bear]

There have been 43 Presidents since 1789.

 

Scouting started in 1910 and the first Eagle Scout came after that date. So we should subtract 27, leaving 16 Presidents.

 

About 2 out of every 100 Scouts ever reach Eagle or 1.5% of the Scouting population since 1910.

 

There are 281 million people on the last U.S. census role and that does not count all of the people since 1910.

 

If only one President was an Eagle, then the chances of that ever happening again is just barley above 0.

 

Had the chap in the White House not been a crook, there still would not have been an Eagle that was President.

 

Burma Shave

[packsaddle]

Fuzzy, the Burma Shave mention really did it for me, thanks. One more thing, if the Eagle Scout (the first impeccably honest President in a long time) hadn't pardoned the criminal, he might have won his next election. Lesson learned...the next guy should open the records, stand back, and let the heads roll after this debacle.(This message has been edited by packsaddle)

[ljnrsu]

Gern and Brent you both have great lists of famous Eagle scouts.

Not wanting to cause anyone disgust but there is someone who comes to mind that fits the other part of the threads title.

He was both an Eagle scout and at one point a Scoutmaster. Charles Whitman, not the ideal Eagle scout nor Scoutmaster role model.

[packsaddle]

ljnrsu,

There are other such sad examples as well. However, I think the point of the thread (correct me if I'm wrong here) is that the qualities that individuals have that help them achieve such things as eagle scout...are positive qualities. And attaining eagle is an indication that they exist.

 

However, from the view of this eagle, there is nothing about the above that necessarily indicates that undesirable qualities may not also coexist, as indeed they do in certain individuals (as you note in your message). Therefore, again in this eagle's view, everyone including eagle scouts, should be viewed as individuals and judged as individuals. What we think and do are the product of many things but they are thought and done by us individually. And we take individual responsibility for them (at least I do).

 

The Whitmans and other criminals who happen to have been scouts, even eagle scouts, are just people like everyone else...except they have expressed qualities that we judge unacceptable or worse. It doesn't reflect badly on other eagle scouts or on BSA as long as these individuals are treated as individuals and not a class of people.

 

I have tried to express this to boys attaining eagle in this unit. That they have attained this rank themselves, regardless of assistance or guidance from others. It is their achievement. And theirs to dishonor if that is what the future holds. They were individually responsible for the achievement and they deserve the personal recognition. And if they muck things up in the future, they will similarly be individually responsible and deserve similar personal recognition. It cuts both ways and it is fair.

Edited part: oops, subject/verb agreement, sorry(This message has been edited by packsaddle)