World Jamboree - Tube bombings

[acco40 95]

Last night was our final National Jamboree committee meeting and during that time they passed around a brochure about the 2007 World Jamboree (100th year of Scouting!) in London. I was all pumped up to go and then this morning I hear about the terrorist attacks in London. That WILL NOT prevent me from going but I've already had moms ask me about security at Fort A.P. Hill.

 

I'm afraid as the more our culture and way of life are attacked by terrorists, the easier it will be for our society to slip into a cautionary mode similar to interring the Japanese during WWII.

 

No, I have no solutions just worries at the moment. Right now, it has no effect on my children thank God.

 

If anything, the WOSM should do more to unite us than divide us. I wonder what will happen in Tunisia late this summer with the Breaking Down Barriers theme.

 

Yikes! How did this fall under Council Relations?(This message has been edited by acco40)

[SR540Beaver 116]

Acco,

 

The London bombings gave me a little heartburn over the upcoming Jamboree. We have repeatedly discussed with the boys in our Jambo troop the need to not joke about bombs, terrorists, guns, etc. at the airport. We have told them we would hate to get on the plane while they are being carted of in handcuffs for a little interrogation. We have also repeatedly told them to mind their P's & Q's when we enter Jambo. We have had some veteran Jambo folks tell us of stories from 2001 where kids popped of to the military rep who came on their bus at the gate and ended up sitting there for a long period as other buses rolled past them. We do have a few hyper wise-akers that have me worried. Now is not the time to be the troop clown while traveling.

[jteamnmj 10]

This was truly a sad thing that happened this morning. My family was on a train going to London this morning. I can only thank god that we chose to get on our train at 9am and had not gone an hour earlier. We were stopped 2 stations from Kings Cross and asked to leave the train and await a train to take us back North. I can only wonder where we would have been if we would have caught an earlier train and then had gotten on the tube to tour London with relatives that came to visit us.

Julie

[Kahuna 172]

A tragedy what happened in London today. Of course, we must exercise the greatest caution in the U.S. as well and the loonies could well pick a Boy Scout Jamboree as a target. We must keep on about normal lives, however, or the terrorists have already one. Eventually, we will beat them, although I doubt we will see the total extinction of this particular brand of craziness in our lifetimes. Until then, we just have to keep on keeping on.

[Backpacker 11]

What happened today in London was extremely tragic, however the fear of a jamboree getting attacked is remote at best. There are much more important and strategic targets these imbeciles have their eyes on. If you follow their history they always target areas that have economic or infrastructure importance, and will cause the major amount of disruption possible. A few thousand boy scouts just would not be that important enough for them to risk their resources. However these people are insane so anything is possible.

[Eamonn 61]

I lived in London during the IRA reign of terror.

A couple of times I know that someone up there was looking out for me, as I for one reason or another I narrowly missed being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Without wishing to sound heartless, at that time it just became almost a way of life.

When the IRA bombed Hyde Park, on July 20th 1982.The death toll was 11 and a total of 50 people were injured. I remember how in the days that followed some people seemed more upset about the seven horses that were killed or so badly maimed, than the people who were injured or dead. On that day I remember taking a group of Scouts on a London hike (a hike where you can make your way across London without using any right of way called a Road or Street.)

Christmas 1983, Her That Must Be Obeyed and myself were spending our first Christmas together. I wanted to have a traditional English Christmas dinner. It is traditional to have Christmas crackers as a table decoration. These are a kind of party favor(In 1847, Tom Smith invented the cracker. It was a simple idea which became an integral part of British celebration and tradition which still continues today, 150 years on. In it's simple form a cracker is a small cardboard tube covered in a brightly colored twist of paper.

When the cracker is 'pulled' by two people, each holding one end of the twisted paper, the friction creates a small explosive 'pop' produced by a narrow strip of chemically impregnated paper. The cardboard tube tumbles a bright paper hat, a small gift, a balloon and a motto or joke.)

You can buy cheap crackers, but I wanted really good ones. The type with silver toys and things worth keeping.

The best place in London to buy these is at Harrods.

On Saturday, December 17, 1983, we had planned to go to Harrods in search of the perfect Christmas cracker, but the mailman knocked on the door with a package from the USA. A very dear and close friend had mailed a big box full of presents. Not just for us but for a lot of people that she knew in England. The package contained cigars, cigarettes, booze, clothes all things that I had to pay duty (Tax)on. I paid the mailman the almost 300 Pounds that was owed!! Which didn't leave very much money to spend on crackers.

At about 1:30 PM car bomb parked outside Harrods killed six and injured 90 in the blast.

After these acts of terrorism, we seem to rush around either telling everyone that we are OK or checking to see if everyone else is OK.

When my family and friends across the pond heard that Flight 93 had gone down just outside of Pittsburgh PA, on 9/11 they were very worried and concerned, however the volume of transatlantic calls made it impossible for them to get a phone call through for four days.

I know that I am not wise enough or clever enough to ever be able to comprehend or understand why anyone would want to go out of their way; no matter what the cause might be, to harm and kill innocent people that have never done them any harm.

Peter Duncan the UK Chief Scout has sent the following e-mail message

 

A message from the Chief Scout

 

The bombings in London have touched us all in Scouting.

We have been greatly encouraged by the number of messages

of support and solidarity that we have received from Scouting friends around the world. There are many stories of personal

support and assistance being given by Scouts and Leaders.

Our thoughts and prayers go out especially to the injured and the bereaved, and to all those in the emergency services.

In spite of the suffering, there have been so many signs of goodness. The principles of Scouting, and our theme for EuroJam and the Centenary on "One World, One Promise",

are now underlined as being even more relevant."

 

Peter Duncan

 

Chief Scout

 

In the face of terrorism ideas for Scout Leaders

Programme material has been devised to help Leaders

in The Scout Association who are facing the need to help Scouts to come to terms with the impact of terrorism.

It can be obtained by clicking on this link.

 

http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs260066.pdf

 

The link does contain a Scout Prayer for Peace:

 

O God we join with Scouts throughout the world to pray for peace.

Grant that through Scouting we can come to understand each other better and learn to live together in harmony.

 

Eamonn