Scouting mom and columnist for the Hartford Courant Susan Campbell tells the story of David Knapp, a Boy Scout who refuses to just fade away. He has a message, and it’s worth listening to. See “On His Honor, this Boy Scout will do his duty.”
Boy Scout won’t go away
April 21, 2009
Leave a Comment » | 
Boy Scouts of America, Civil Rights, Human Rights | Tagged: Boy Scouts of America, Civil Rights, Human Rights, O. Henry | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Boy Scouts honor Gerald Ford (from archives)
April 13, 2009I found this photo on the archived White House website; a marvelous shot of more than 120 Boy Scouts in the National Cathedral during the state funeral of President Gerald Ford. Ford requested that Eagle Scouts turn out to pay their respects and support him in his final journey; at every stage of his funeral journey, Eagle Scouts saluted Ford, himself an Eagle Scout and the first to serve as president.
Caption from the White House website (now archived): Boy Scouts attending the State Funeral service for former President Gerald R. Ford at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., salute his casket as it leaves the cathedral, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007. White House photo by David Bohrer. Photo in the public domain
Leave a Comment » | Boy Scouts of America, Eagle Scout, Gerald Ford, Presidents | Tagged: Boy Scouts of America, Eagle Scouts, National Cathedral, President Gerald Ford, State Funeral | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Scout earns all 121 merit badges, in Ardmore, Oklahoma
March 22, 2009Another Scout joined the exclusive club of those who earned all the possible merit badges.
Wes Weaver, already an Eagle Scout, added the last of his merit badges late last month, according to KXII Channel 12 in Sherman, Texas (covering the border area around Lake Texoma).
“In 2008, there were 20 scouts across the county who had gotten all 121 merit badges. I’m adding my name to that list,” Wes says.
But Weaver’s accomplishments don’t end with badges. The teen also earned his Eagle Scout award by building a 112-foot bridge over a creek bed in Lake Murray State Park. It was no easy task with the rugged terrain
“Just digging the holes I was thinking I’m never going to be done. All my weekends are going to be spent out here digging holes,” Wes says.
“It was scheduled to take between two to three months. It ended up taking a year and 6 months,” says Wes’s father, Rusty Weaver.
Rusty helped his son plan out the bridge and construct it, along with the rest of Troop 112. Now all kinds of area bicyclists, hikers and outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy the state park a little more. [video available here]
Keeping with an interesting if perplexing tradition, bugling was the last merit badge he earned. Weaver had aimed for 121 since he first became a Boy Scout, and his Scoutmaster, David Mannas challenged the troop to earn their Eagle rank and then go beyond the 44 merit badges Manass had earned.
Many of Weaver’s merit badges were earned in the traditional fashion, at the many summer and winter camps he attended over the years. Weaver’s father, Rusty Weaver, became the Scoutmaster of Troop 112 and is a Climbing Director for Arbuckle Area Council. “My dad would be at camp two to four weeks a summer so I stayed at camp and took all the merit badge classes I could. Before I knew it, I had 80 merit badges.”
He attends Plainview High School concurrently with Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, Regional Center and looks forward to finalizing his college plans.
Weaver was recognized for his rare achievement at the Arbuckle Area Council Annual Recognition Banquet, Feb. 28 at Camp Simpson in Bromide. His parents are Trish and Rusty Weaver, Ardmore.
Resources:
- Story in the Ada (Oklahoma) Evening News
- Website for Troop 112, Ardmore, Oklahoma; sponsored by the St. Mary’s Catholic Church Men’s Club; copy of KXII news story on Weaver’s accomplishment, in Windows Media format
- Unofficial registry of Scouts who earned all possible merit badges, Merit Badge Knot.com (note listing of 20 Scouts who earned all badges completing their work in 2008)
Previous notes at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub:
- “Amarillo Scout: 121 merit badges and more”
- “Beyond what is required: Another Scout earns all merit badges”
- “Earning every Boy Scout merit badge”
3 Comments | 121 Merit Badge Club, Boy Scouts of America, Citizenship, Eagle Scout, History | Tagged: 121 Merit Badges, Ardmore, Boy Scouts, Eagle Scout, History, Wes Weaver | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Amarillo Scout: 121 merit badges, and more
January 2, 2009Here’s a good story we missed back in September. This is one more example of outstanding achievement by a good kid, a Scout, that slips by largely unremarked.
Amarillo Scout Coleman Carter got his 121st merit badge in his troop’s court of honor. He had earned his Eagle Rank in September 2004.
Carter’s 121st badge? Bugling. He doesn’t play the trumpet or bugle, so it was difficult. Bugling was also the last badge earned by the New York Scout, Shawn Goldsmith. Is this a trend? My recollection is that at least one other member of 121-Merit Badge Club got bugling last.
Amarillo Eagle Scout Carter Coleman - Amarillo Globe photo
Earning every merit badge in the book is just one of Carter’s achievements, however. He’s a National Merit Scholar, ranked #1 in his class at Tascosa High School, and studentbody president. You can read several of his acheivements here, in the Amarillo Globe-News — and remember, this was before his junior year (he’s a senior this year).
Better, go read what Globe-News columnist Jon Mark Beilue wrote on September 24, 2008, “Scout blows it out.”
Coleman is a member of Troop 87, sponsored by St. Thomas the Apostle Church. Amarillo is in the Golden Spread Council, BSA, which serves the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles.
Mr. Coleman is not the first to accomplish this feat, nor will he be the last, I suspect. I do wish that troops, districts and councils would do more to spread the news of such outstanding feats by Scouts. A press release kept online, with photos, would have been nice. (While we’re ranting, would it be so difficult for the Amarillo Globe-News to put its name on its website? Or has the Globe-News gone out of business?)
3 Comments | 121 Merit Badge Club, Amarillo, Boy Scouts of America, Carter Coleman, Citizenship, Eagle Scout, Merit Badges, Texas | Tagged: Amarillo, Boy Scouts of America, Carter Coleman, Eagle Scout, Merit Badges, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Beyond what is required: Another Scout earns all merit badges
December 30, 2008From Oceanside, Long Island, New York, we get brief reports of an Eagle Scout, Shawn Goldsmith, who earned all 121 merit badges offered by the Boy Scouts of America. He finished work on his last badge, for bugling, in November.
Eagle Scout Shawn Goldsmith, Troop 240, Greater New York Council - Goldsmith earned all 121 Merit Badges - Photo from GNY Council
From WBBH, Channel 2, an NBC affiliate television news operation on Long Island:
Goldsmith says he took about five years to earn his first 62 badges and then nearly doubled that number in a matter of months. He did it with the encouragement of his grandmother, who died shortly before he reached his goal. He was awarded his final badges on Dec. 19.
Goldsmith is a freshman at Binghamton University and hopes to become a businessman and politician.
Shawn is a member of Troop 240, Greater New York Council (Bronx), whose chartered organization is Riverdale Presbyterian Church. Shawn was editor of his high school’s newspaper, and he served as an intern in the Long Island office of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer.
More information:
- Press release from Troop 240, the Bronx
- From a blogger and Scouter in Frederick, Maryland
- Home page for Troop 240, “The Eagle’s Nest”
Related posts at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub:
- “Earning every Boy Scout merit badge”
- “88-year-old man finally gets Eagle Scout rank”
- “Scout Centennial video”
- “Science history slips away: Ralph Alpher and Big Bang”
Update – other mentions:
4 Comments | A Good Story, Boy Scouts of America, Citizenship, Eagle Scout, History, Leadership | Tagged: Boy Scouts of America, Eagle Scout, Merit Badges | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Happy birthday, Walter Cronkite (a bit late)
November 12, 2008Missed this one. But contrary to what most of my journalism profs said, I think news is news so long as people don’t know it.
Walter Cronkite - undated photo via Mediabistro
Walter Cronkite turned 92 on election day, November 4.
Astounding. He’s still active in news, though heaven knows CBS doesn’t use him as they should (where was he on election night?).
I’ve been interested to see the prominence he gets, now, in history accounts of the Vietnam war. At the same time, it’s painful that we have students whose parents didn’t grow up with Cronkite on the air. They’re a generation removed from knowing what they missed.
My one brief Cronkite story: Late one afternoon I was preparing for a hearing at the Senate Labor Committee for the next morning, preparations that had been slowed by a fair deal of breaking news around Reagan’s Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan, whose potential links to crime organizations had been hidden from the committee during his nomination hearings (Donovan was acquitted of wrongdoing in a later trial). Chaos might be the best way to describe the events, especially in the news area. A lot of misinformation was passed around, about what were the position and concerns of Labor Committee Chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch (my boss), what was the position of the White House, what was the evidence and what wasn’t the evidence on Donovan, etc.
I turned on the television to catch Cronkite’s broadcast. About five minutes in, the phone rang. It was Rita Braver, then a CBS producer, and she really gave me the third degree about some minor point on the Donovan story — a minor point, but one that had been reported incorrectly by others (I forget now what the issue was). I had known Braver, chiefly on the phone, for some time. I found her extremely careful with the facts, which was comfortable considering where she sat in CBS’s ranks; the stuff she worked on was on the evening news regularly. We talked for a few minutes, and then rather abruptly she yelled “Hang on!” and put me on hold. The newscast I was watching went to a commercial break, and as sometimes happened, the camera pulled away, and Cronkite on the air reached for the telephone on his desk. The commercial came on simultaneously with the voice on the phone: “This is Walter Cronkite. Mr. Darrell, I have a question about this report I’m holding. I think Rita has spoken with you about it.” We talked about the issue for just about a minute, he thanked me. As the show came out of the break, Cronkite read the news about Ray Donovan that day, with Hatch’s views. He got it right, of course.
Do most people realize how intensely most news operations work to get even the small stuff right?
It was really odd watching Cronkite reach for the phone, and then hear him on my phone.
Other Cronkite news:
- Arizona State University’s journalism program is 25. The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication has a new, $71 million home away from ASU’s main campus, in downtown Phoenix. (Okay, Phoenix is a better media location than Tucson — but ASU? The University of Arizona’s program is older, more storied . . . my Wildcat bias showing, I’m sure.)
- Cronkite found time to go sailing on his birthday – recalling the old CBS joke that his boat was named “On Assignment.” Whenever Cronkite was away from the anchor desk, the substitutes explained he was “on assignment.”
- Cronkite School in Phoenix was busy on election night
- By the way, did you know Cronkite is a Texan? He grew up and graduated from high school in Houston, and attended the University of Texas. He was a Boy Scout, too.
- Earlier at the Bathtub: “Old Iron Pants Cronkite,” “Cronkite narrates Texas water supply programs“
4 Comments | Accuracy, Biography, Boy Scouts of America, History, Journalism, News, Television, Texas history | Tagged: History, Journalism, News, television news, Walter Cronkite | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Scouts predict weather
September 8, 2008Bill Britt is Scoutmaster of Troop 509 in Hurlburt Field, Florida. In a missive recently he comments on the ability of his Scouts to predict stormy weather:
Subject: This is gettin’ old!!
Argggh!
We had an annual multi-troop campout scheduled for the weekend of August 22. Hurricane/TS Fay decides to go right over the camp, so we cancel early.
We schedule a flag retirement ceremony with the VFW for Labor Day and wake up to Tornado Warnings from Hurricane Gustav’s feeder bands.
Now Hurricane Ike is trying to visit us for next weekend’s Spectre Island campout.
We now figure we can offer our services to NOAA as a long term Hurricane predictor for the Gulf Coast. All we gotta do is check out the calendar for future Troop events through November when the season ends.
Bill Britt, SM
Troop 509
Hurlburt Field, FL
Providing accurate cyclonic prediction since 2008
Leave a Comment » | Boy Scouts of America, Climate change, Humor, Science | Tagged: Boy Scouts, Climate change, Humor, Weather | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Scouts, Scouters: No campaigning in uniform!
August 31, 2008Scouts and Scouters know the rules: No political campaigning in uniform. It’s such a hard-and-fast rule that even Boy Scouts helping with voter registration or simultaneous food drives sometimes get calls from the local Council to be sure there is no partisan political campaigning going on.
Scouts may be asked to present the colors, the flags of the U.S. and the state, and to lead a political convention in the Pledge of Allegiance. Diligent Scouters, or Scouts, involved in such ceremonies, will retire to remove their uniforms before continuing to participate in the political part of the activities.
Photos of Scouts used by presidential campaigns is among those things prohibited.
So this photo is disturbing. You can see two people in Scout uniforms — one obviously an adult — at a political rally where their placement suggests the campaign officials tried to get them into news and publicity photos. Oddly for real Scouters, there are few insignia of any kind on the uniforms — on the sleeves or pockets — other than what comes with the shirt right out of the box (World Scouting emblem perhaps excepted) — though you can see the edge of an adult leader’s patch on the adult’s left arm. Were these real Scouters flouting the rules, or faux Scouters, actors hired by the campaign to flaunt the uniform, contrary to the rules?
The Scouts in the background -- are they complying with Scout policies that require no politicking in Scout uniform? (photo from Andrew Sullivan's blog)
Below the fold: The rule, as listed on Grand Teton Council’s website.
12 Comments | Boy Scouts of America, Campaigns, Politics | Tagged: Boy Scouts, Campaign 2008, Politics | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Earning every Boy Scout merit badge
July 14, 2008Dan Bates served on the staff at Camp Maple Dell for at least the part of one summer when I was on junior staff there, in Utah’s Payson Canyon (1969? 1970?). Maple Dell is a Boy Scout camp operated by the Utah National Parks Council, B.S.A.
I remember Dan because he was one of those overachieving guys who had earned every possible merit badge — 121 at the time, if I recall correctly. By comparison, there are 21 merit badges necessary to earn Eagle Scout (which Dan is, also).
It didn’t go to his head at all. Dan was a great guy, from Heber, Utah, a small town up Provo Canyon in one of the world’s most beautiful valleys. Heber used to be separated from much of Utah by snow every year, but the roads are kept clear these days.
Once I asked Dan what possessed him to get every merit badge, and without pausing long, he said, “What else do you do in Heber in the winter?” It was a flip answer unexpected from the usually more sober Bates.
I think about Dan this time of year when the news stories start appearing about a new Scout, somewhere, who has earned every merit badge. One of the common themes of these stories: Has anyone else ever done it?
Eagle Scout Travis Cochran, California, holder of every merit badge
In The Press-Enterprise in San Bernardino, County, California, for example, the June 25 issue reports the achievements of Travis Cochran:
If Don Townsend was a betting man he’d put money on the fact that Travis Cochran is the only Boy Scout to have earned every merit badge and the Bronze and Silver Hornaday Medals.
Cochran, 18, of Cedarpines Park, earned 122 merit badges during his scouting career. Twenty-one merit badges must be earned to reach the rank of Eagle Scout.
There is a qualification in this story — Cochran also earned the Bronze and Silver Hornaday Conservation Medals — but you see the drift.
Alas, there is no central location for information about such achievements that I have ever found. Tracking the achievements of Boy Scouts, like the tremendous accomplishments of Scouts Dan Bates and Travis Cochran, generally falls to the local unit. Sometimes a local Boy Scout Council will have some information, but usually not.
History sneaks away so often because no one bothers to invite it to stick around.
Do you know of other Boy Scouts who earned every possible merit badge? We had one such Scout in the Circle 10 Council (Dallas) last year. How many others sneaked by without the hoopla they deserve?
Dan Bates, where are you these days?
Update, August 2009: Dan Bates has been found!
Dan wrote in from Mesa, Arizona, and the Grand Canyon Council — see his note in comments, below. Turns out I remembered it incorrectly — he had 100 merit badges, but not all of them. His brother got them all. Glad for the correction. Happier to have found Mr. Bates.
Other resources:
- 2007 Washington Post story on James Calderwood, Chevy Chase, Maryland, “Scout Soars Far Beyond Eagle”
- 2007 stories in Salt Lake City’s Deseret News, on Alex Recksieck, Dallin Manning, and Parker Duncan
- 2006 story in The Kansas City Star, on Austin Marlin, mentioning Jared Thatcher
- Unnamed father-son team from Erie Shores Council
- 2006 story in The Boston Globe, on Chris Talutis, of Milton, Massachusetts
- Added 8-2-2008: Roland Salatino, Troop 577, Dallas, Texas
- Added 12-30-2008: Shawn Goldsmith, Troop 240, Bronx, New York
- Added 1-3-2008: Raymond Adrian DeLeon, Jr., Venture Crew 1209, Austin, Texas
- Added 10-9-2009: Cameron Barber, Dallas, in 2007
- Please look for other stories in this series at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub, listed in the category of “121 Merit Badge Club”
[Do you like stories about good kids, like these Boy Scouts? Click the Digg button, above — or one of the other buttons below!]
18 Comments | 121 Merit Badge Club, A Good Story, Boy Scouts of America, Citizenship, Eagle Scout, Education, History | Tagged: 121 Merit Badge Club, Boy Scouts of America, Eagle Scout, Education, History, Scouting | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Scout Centennial video
June 22, 2008Here’s a video on the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America, coming in 2010.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
more about “Scout Centennial video“, posted with vodpod
Scouts, Scouters, friends and media should probably bookmark this site, and use it to coordinate events planned for the centennial year.
Among other fun things, there was a contest to pick a logo for the year-long festivities. The logo is below, left.
The winning design came from an Eagle in California
Name: Philip Goolkasian
Hometown: Fresno, Calif.
Scout Rank: Eagle Scout
Council: Troop 223, Sequoia Counci
1 Comment | Boy Scouts of America, History | Tagged: 2010, Boy Scouts, History, Scouting American Centennial | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Iowa Scout tragedy – a message from the Chief Scout Executive
June 14, 2008Chief Scout Executive Robert J. Mazzuca issued this message yesterday, regarding the tornado strike at Mid-America Council’s Little Sioux Scout Ranch in western Iowa. For the record, for your information and action:
Robert J. Mazzuca
Chief Scout ExecutiveJune 13, 2008
To our Scouting family:
We were all shocked and saddened by the news coming out of Western Iowa. The tornado that ripped through our Little Sioux Scout Ranch left a terrible wake of destruction in its path. We mourn the lives lost and injuries suffered as a result of the storm. And we extend our deepest sympathies and concern to the families of those who were affected.
BSA President John Gottschalk and I have pledged the full support of the National Council to assist in any way. Particularly during this period of front-line response, most of the effort is being managed by the outstanding Mid-America Council. We are grateful for Lloyd Roitstein and his staff, who have shown remarkable leadership during this very challenging time. The local council has placed a very high priority on tending to the needs of the impacted families. We continue to remain in close contact and are helping to coordinate communication across the local council network. The National Council is prepared to engage further at any time.
Understandably, we are receiving many calls from all across the country from staff, volunteers, Scouts, and families who want to be supportive. Thank you, everyone, for this outpouring of support. We have put into place a process for properly channeling offers of financial assistance for the impacted families, as well as interest in volunteering time to the effort. Right now, we need to give emergency responders and the local council time to attend to the task at hand. Very soon, the effort will turn to rebuilding and reconstructing. Upon the determination of exact needs, we will follow up with you.
Please forward contact information and offers of support to our emergency response e-mail at oomcd@netbsa.org. Anyone interested in making a donation to help rebuild Scouting in the communities affected by the tornadoes and flooding in the Midwest go to www.scoutingfriends.org. Select “BSA Disaster Relief.”
Again, we are deeply saddened by this tragedy. At the same time, however, we are moved by and proud of the way in which our Scouts, leaders, and the local council have responded. There is no question that this terrible situation would have been worse if it were not for the heroic efforts of the young men who were on the ground when the tornado hit. They epitomize what is so very special about being a Scout.
Please join me in keeping all of those affected in our thoughts and prayers. God bless our Scouts.
Yours in Scouting,
Robert J. Mazzuca signature
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Robert J. Mazzuca
Chief Scout Executive
Tip of the old scrub brush to Debie Franz, Wisdom Trail District, Circle 10 Council
2 Comments | Boy Scouts of America, Capturing history, Current History, Disasters, History | Tagged: Boy Scouts, disaster, Iowa, Tornado | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Oklahoma parents speak out against Sally Kern’s unholy bias
April 29, 2008From a paid advertisement in The Daily Oklahoman:
Full text below the fold, should you find it difficult to read this ad on your browser.
Other resources:
- Oklahoma Independent Media Center on Daily Oklahoman editing of letters on bigotry against homosexuals
- Pharyngula: “The odious Sally Kern;” “‘According to God’s Word;'”
- Digital Cuttlefish on Sally Kern
- Dispatches from the Culture Wars: “Kern: Gays worse than terrorists;” “A Brilliant Reply to Sally Kern“
4 Comments | Boy Scouts of America, Civil Rights, Eagle Scout, Ethics, History, Human Rights, Parents, Patriotism, Politics, Rampant stupidity | Tagged: Civil Rights, Gay Rights, Hate Agenda, Hate Speech, Oklahoma, Politics, Sally Kern | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Hydrogen power: Still a gas after all these years
April 20, 2008There must have been news conferences, press releases and lengthy stories, but I missed them. It came as a quiet surprise to stumble across GM’s website talking about a fleet of 100 hydrogen fuel-cell cars, on the road now.
Chevy has launched a test fleet of hydrogen-powered fuel cell Equinox SUVs. This fleet hit the streets of New York City, Washington, D.C., and Southern California.
“Project Driveway” is the first large-scale market test of fuel cell vehicles with real drivers in the real world. Why? Because hydrogen fuel cells use zero gasoline and produce zero emissions. They’re a sustainable technology for a better environment. And they ultimately reduce our dependence on petroleum. Equinox Fuel Cell is an electric vehicle powered by the GM fourth-generation fuel cell system, our most advanced fuel cell propulsion system to date. The electric motor traction system will provide the vehicle with instantaneous torque, smooth acceleration, and quiet performance.
The Equinox Fuel Cell will go nearly 150 miles per fill-up, and reach a top speed of 100 mph. Green Car Journal has given the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell its Green Car Vision Award. The Equinox Fuel Cell won the award over several nominees, including the Honda FCX Clarity and Toyota Prius Plug-In.
If you live in one of those cities, you may be eligible to test drive one of the vehicles. Were I there, my application to try one would have been in before I started this piece.
It took 20 years longer than it should have to get hybrid fueled vehicles on the road; hydrogen power lags at least as far back. To those of us who long ago gave up hoping the Detroit Big 3 might see the light on hydrogen in any form, the news GM has a fleet of fuel-cells in pre-Beta testing is most interesting. We remember GM’s last foray into electric cars. Hopes do not rise, at least not great hopes, and not high.
It’s been 31 years since Roger Billings drove a hydrogen-powered internal combustion car in Jimmy Carter’s inaugural parade. Hope abides, but not forever. Feathers cannot sustain hope that long, Emily.
Fuel cells provide significant advantages, though. The need for something like fuel cells should drive a market to make the things work. [More about fuel cells, hydrogen, and Roger Billings, below the fold.]
3 Comments | Boy Scouts of America, Capturing history, Current History, Eagle Scout, Environmental protection, History, Natural resources, Research, Science, Technology | Tagged: Autos, Boy Scouts of America, Energy independence, environment, Fuel cells, Hydrogen, Roger Billings, Science, Transportation | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Story of Lord Baden-Powell on video
February 3, 2008Some guy made this video, a story of the life of Robert Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, for a Cub Scout ceremony (an Arrow of Light awarding). This one features some impressive historical footage of the funeral of Baden-Powell.
First, I wonder why the National Council of Boy Scouts has not seized upon this idea, and put this video on DVD for recruiting and ceremonies.
Second, there are a lot of people out there with enough video production skill to preserve a lot of history — more people should.
I imagine the person who created this was the father of a Cub Scout. It’s a Latter-day Saint ceremony, so there are two references to Mormons, but otherwise this would be a fine video for Scout recruiting.
Here’s another video, professionally produced, from 100yearsofscouting.org:
Leave a Comment » | Boy Scouts of America, Capturing history, History, Video and film | Tagged: Boy Scouts of America, History, Lord Baden-Powell | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
J. Russell Coffey, third to last WW I vet, 1898-2007
December 21, 2007Who are the last two?
________________________
From the Toledo, Ohio, Blade:
J. RUSSELL COFFEY, 1898-2007
BGSU professor, 109, was among last remaining veterans of WW I
NORTH BALTIMORE, Ohio – J. Russell Coffey, 109, a former physical education professor at Bowling Green State University and one of only three remaining U.S. veterans of World War I, died of heart failure yesterday in the Briar Hill Health Campus nursing home.Born in Crawford County, Ohio, Mr. Coffey was a student at Ohio State University when the United States joined the war in 1917.
He was 20 years old when he enlisted in the Army the following year and served about a month before the end of the war. While he tried to enlist earlier, the military was hesitant to admit him because his two older brothers, Harley and Hobart Coffey, were fighting in Europe.”I remember going down and registering,” J. Russell Coffey told The Blade last year. “The recruitment man said, ‘I don’t think we need you.’ Two weeks later, it was just the opposite.”
Mr. Coffey was honorably discharged on Dec. 12, 1918, a month after the signing of the armistice.”He had a lot of friends and relatives who did serve [in Europe] and had a pretty rough time,” his great nephew, Jeff Coffey, said.
Years later, the elder Mr. Coffey told friends that he was somewhat embarrassed to be honored as a surviving veteran because he never saw combat.”He really felt that it wasn’t appropriate,” longtime friend James Miller said. “He had been willing to [fight]. But by the time he got there, it was over with.”
Mr. Coffey played baseball and was a track sprinter while in college, and went on to receive both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from OSU, and later a doctorate in education from New York University.Both athletics and teaching continued to play leading roles in Mr. Coffey’s life.
He officiated high school sports for many years, while he taught junior high and high school students in Phelps, Ky., at the former Glenwood Junior High School in Findlay, and at the former Findlay College. He also was an aquatics director for the Boy Scouts in Toledo.Mr. Coffey was at BGSU from 1948 until 1969. He primarily taught physical education, although he also taught archery, psychology, swimming, and driver’s education.
He was director of the university’s graduate studies in health and physical education from 1952 to 1968.In later years, Mr. Coffey credited physical activity and a healthy diet for his longevity.
He continued to drive a car until he was 103, about the same time he moved from his home in Bowling Green to the nursing home in nearby North Baltimore.”Most of his reminiscing was about teaching, and a lot about sports,” recalled Sarah Foster, the nursing home’s director.
Mr. Coffey was an active member of the Bowling Green Rotary Club for more than 50 years, and was named “oldest living Rotarian in the world” by the club in 2004.He was a member of the North Baltimore American Legion Post 549.
In 1921, he married the former Bernice Roseborough. She died in 1983.In his later years, Mr. Coffey sat for many newspaper, television, and radio interviews about the war, including one with a former student, Leon Bibb, a 1966 BGSU graduate and former university trustee who is now a newscaster for WEWS-TV in Cleveland.
“He was a very gentle man who told me that he did his duty as he saw fit,” Mr. Bibb said. There are no immediate survivors.Services will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow in the Smith-Crates Funeral Home, North Baltimore, with visitation an hour before the services.
The family suggests tributes to the Rotary Clubs of either North Baltimore or Bowling Green.
Tip of the old scrub brush to Jim “Sojourner” from the old AOL boards.
Also see: Historians at Work: The last known Brit who fought in the trenches of World War I
2 Comments | Boy Scouts of America, Capturing history, History, veterans, World War I | Tagged: Boy Scouts, History, veterans, World War I | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 