jwmerica

Okay, I'm probably going to offend some of you folks out there... This whole thing burns my tail up! I was born in 1959. I was a thalidomide baby. I have seal limbs. I didn't participate in Cubs because the Bobcat leader who lived next door to us lied to my Mom and told her kids with disabilities weren't allowed in Scouts. My Mom should have called council, but she wasn't too bright early on dealing with discrimination. I did participate with Troop 302 at Joseph Pomeroy Widney High School from 1971 to 1973, in LAAC. The school was for disabled kids and so was the troop. Cary Bates was our SM

Hey Guys, Thanks for the welcome. I like zinging the zingers. ;-) Folks get their panties in a wad over the darnest things. I just scored the "new" beret I've been wrangling over on Ebay. Now I'll have two. My "working" beret and my "Sunday, go to meet'n" beret. I don't know how I came to like or even start collecting berets, maybe it goes back to wearing the beret when I was a boy. I developed a love for these funky, little hats over the last 34 years that I can't shake. Some of my favorites in my collection are/were an Irish Guards beret that I lost to a woman who snatched it and dropped m

I have been involved with Scouting a total of 9 years. 71-73 with Troop 302 in LAAC. I rose to the rank of Life. 3 years with a scouting style half-baked explorer program from 75-78. 02 - present with Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. I've been a PL, DL, CM and ASM, I also directed the 2004 "Tales and Trails of the Rockies" Cub Scout Day Camp for Centennial District, Denver Area Council. I'm a Woodbadge graduate and got beaded in Nov. 2005. I hope to meet some of you at Round Table someday soon. Cheers.

Mea Culpa, Thanks for the welcome. Didn't really look at the dates. I thought it was an interesting thread and I wanted to make a contribution to it. Two cents as a matter of fact.;-) I get asked about my beret all of the time. There are definitely many different schools of thought on the wearing of the red beret. I've been told it looks dashing and have been called a fascist while wearing it. I don't really give a hoot what people think of it. I wear it because I like it and its still valid class A headgear. I have all the class A headgear except a campaign hat and I couldn't be bribed to

The Red Beret is still valid headgear. If it has its "Official BSA..." label in it you're good to go. I'm an ASM w/a Troop in SoCal. I hung on to my beret over the years. I wear it proudly now as my Class A headgear. In '73 my older brother, a 'Nam veteran, taught me how to train my beret. 1. Soak it in cold water. 2. Wring it out really well. 3. Put it on your head and center the insignia directly over the left eye. 4.Using the insignia flash as a hard point, fold the beret down in front to bring the back of the beret forward. Push the flash back up vertical. This creates a pocket behind t