Sixty years later awarded his Eagle - retired Navy Commander Samuel L. Jones

[RememberSchiff 3680]

[Sixty years ago]

"I thrived in the woods. I loved being there so I wanted to hike, I wanted to cook, I wanted to canoe. I wanted to learn how to do it in a really good, professional way. I loved the swimming. I wanted the lifesaving. I wanted to do whatever it took to retain a high proficiency in the woods. Scouting gave me an opportunity to do all of that but more. I wanted to learn how to live in the woods. And so I kept after every merit badge that took one to the woods.

I acquired the rank of Eagle Scout, but the organization wanted a different prototype for their first Eagle Scout, and I was the first one for Troop 147 in Rochester. They wanted to have someone who had a family that was a father and mother and children. That wasn’t my family, nor was it the prototype family of those who lived in the projects. So emotionally I shut down on the notion that I had made Eagle, because in my mind what they were asking for was a family that we weren’t in."

Read the rest of  I'm a Lutheran Samuel L. Jone's Eagle story at source:

https://www.livinglutheran.org/2023/12/im-a-lutheran-samuel-l-jones/

Scout Salute Commander Jones.

Edited December 9, 2023 by RememberSchiff