HONORING HEROES

There was a lot of activity at Forest Hills and St. John’s cemeteries May 20 as Scouts from Pack 351 and Troop 351 were busy placing flags on veterans’ graves in advance of Memorial Day.

Scoutmaster Ron Heim said that by the time the Scouts left the cemeteries they would have placed approximately 850 small American flags on the graves of veterans in partnership with the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). The Pack and Troop are both sponsored by Our Saviors Lutheran, he said, adding it is one of the few Scout groups where both the Pack and Troop have the same number. They have been placing the flags on the graves before Memorial Day for 25-plus years, he said. There are about 18 members of Troop 351 and 20 in Pack 351. The majority of those who came to place flags were the younger members, Heim said, because at this time of year there are many other activities going on at school for the older Scouts.

While Pack members are officially called Cub Scouts, they are organized by grade level into smaller groups called dens. The Pack members at the cemetery mostly identified themselves as Lions (kindergarten), Tigers (first grade) and Wolf (second grade). Also included in Packs are Bears (third grade), Webelos (fourth grade) and Arrow of Light (fifth grade).

They gathered at the main entrance to Forest Hills Cemetery at 5:30 p.m., most of them brought by their parents who stayed who help out. The youngest Scouts, especially, were eager to get started as they waited for the flags to be distributed with a number indicating it was their first time placing the flags.

Nathan Warden, the senior patrol leader, helped Heim distribute two bundles of flags to each Scout. Given the signal to head out, the youngsters took off at a fast pace to get into the cemetery proper, find the holders for the flags and place them, and head off to look for the next veterans grave, usually with their parents trying to keep up. The adults with the group kept checking the flags and the gravestones to make sure the Scouts did not miss any or they were properly placed in the holder. In a few places the holders needed to be straightened out the adults repaired them. One youngster also brought a flag to one of the adults that was faded and had obviously been on the grave since last year. The old flag was replaced with a new one.

As the Scouts worked their way across the cemetery, Heim and Warden followed behind in a vehicle with additional flags to give to the Scouts as they went through their bundles. At one of their stops to hand out more flags, Worden said that he was a high school freshman and had been with the troop for about four years. When asked, he that yes, his goal was to become an Eagle Scout.

Heim added that there are 140 badges available to Scouts but there are 14 that are required before attaining Eagle rank. There are seven other badges a Scout may choose to earn on their way to Eagle. Badges are in addition to other requirements including the large Eagle project.

Heim also pointed out that the organization is now referred to as Scouting America as it includes both boys and girls in its membership at all levels.

After working their way through Forest Hills, the group headed to the adjacent St. John’s Cemetery where they followed the same routine placing flags on each grave.