Thank you all for your kind words and chiming in. Even for the not-so-kind words and assumptions, as I know there are many people who feel that the EBOR Under Disputed Circumstances is a "cheat" or work around for parents to get a kid through.
A little context...
After the "nuclear option" of disputed circumstances, council recommended that we find an outside Eagle Coach from another troop. The coach we worked with had more than 50 eagles under his belt, and told us there was no reason why my son should have been denied/delayed. Our troop leadership's primary argument was that because our troop uses 1-year leadership terms and my son had to resign after 9 months because of sports commitments. Leadership insisted that because he didn't fulfill a full term, he needed to do an additional three months of service (despite the leadership requirement being 6 months). They, too, said that the "be active" admonition was not met, but since it was never defined by our troop (and since our troop records were woefully inaccurate - with my son showing them photos on his phone from camping events they claimed he didn't attend), that was moot. The troop leadership wanted my son to serve 3 additional months in a leadership role before an EBOR.
During our meeting with the troop leadership and council, the council rep said their points were not a legitimate reason to delay the EBOR, but given the bad blood, we still pursued the Disputed Circumstances route with the other coach.
My son did choose to have an EBOR at our church, and we sent invitations to everyone in the troop. We had about half the boys show, but none from my son's year (the former SM's son and Committee Chair's twins didn't show.) In fact, our SM didn't even bother to attend, despite our clearing the date with the troop leadership two months in advance. Disappointing, truly. But a life lesson that you will never regret taking the high road.
In fact, my son purchased a second mentor pin to give one to his coach and one to the scoutmaster, but we returned it. Oh, and I requested a few letters from senators and presidents, but only the ones my son wanted. They're nice for the baby book, so sue me.
My son has a year left in scouting, and while I think the experience of standing up for your beliefs and what is right (even against people you respect) is important, it has definitely colored his feelings about our specific troop. He will be camping this summer with another troop at an entirely separate campground.
Thanks for your time, I hope this helps clarify some things.