[Philmont] See you on the trail

John, you need to write a book.

Dan Preston
Louisville, KY
On Jul 27, 2007, at 11:13 AM, John LeBlanc wrote:

>  
> I did not do as I usually do and originate the discussing on the use
> of the American Flag as a pack drape at Philmont.  I did express my
> endorsement for the idea to move on to a Philmont flag instead of the
> American flag and to elevate the level of respect shown to our flag.
>  
> Furthermore, I agree that carrying the American Flag tied to the crew
> leaders pack is not disrespectful to the American Flag.
>  
> However, what happens to the American Flag when the pack is dismounted
> and the American Flag is dragged through the dirt, the mud, a lichen
> covered rock or log or leaned against a Ponderosa Pine is to my way of
> thinking disrespectful to the American Flag.  I would not do it, but I
> would also not have a hissy fit toward one a little sloppy in my
> eyes.  Much the same way I did not have a hissy fit at the way I
> observed crew leaders treat the American Flag at Philmont in 2002.  I
> NEVER saw one folder properly.
>  
> I agree wholeheartedly with Terry Pogue.  I grew up believing in Duty,
> Honor, Country and it was a privilege for me to serve my country as a
> combat medic in the United States Army during 1967 to 1969.  When
> coming home on leave in uniform I was spat upon by cowardly citizens
> of our great country in airports, cursed, called a baby killer, you
> name it. Did I react the way that crowd wanted me to?  No, I ignored
> them and thought of a passage from the bible, “forgive them for they
> know not what they do”.
>  
> That type behavior will never occur again to any U S Serviceman or
> servicewoman if I or a whole host of Vietnam era veterans can prevent
> it.
>  
> Tomorrow, I will be standing along the procession route at high noon
> in the ninety degree plus heat of the day to honor a fallen soldier
> from my hometown.  I never knew him, but he deserves the respect he
> earned. 
>  
>  I will be carrying a 48 star American flag on a staff that my
> Scoutmaster brought home with him from service in the Soloman Islands
> in WWII.  He gave it to me when I left the troop I grew up in to serve
> as Scoutmaster of another young troop who needed a leader.  That troop
> had no equipment nor a flag. 
>  
> Tomorrow I will not be waving that flag, I will not have it draped on
> anything.  It will be on a staff with an Eagle on top and I will stand
> there at attention, steadfast like a rock to honor U S Army PFC
> Brandon Bobb who was killed in Iraq on July 27, 2007 by an IED.
>  
> I never knew Bobb.  We were from different generations and different
> races, but we have in common a certain bond.  We were from the same
> town, Port Arthur, Texas.  We went to the same high school, Thomas
> Jefferson High School now renamed Memorial High School under a U S
> Court desegration order.  We walked the same halls, sat in the same
> classrooms and showered in the came gym after a sweaty workout that
> helped us transition from boys to men.
>  
> But the most important bond is we were both U S Army soldiers.  I in
> the 1960's and he some forty years later in the 2000's.  We served at
> different times fighting different threats to our country, but threats
> all the same.  Were we heroes?  I wasn’t, just a soldier doing his
> duty.  Bobb was.  He gave all he had to give.
>  
> Right how his family is suffering a great loss and though they do not
> feel it now, somehow I hope they reach that peace /knowing he did not
> die in vain.And somehow my standing rock solid like the soldier I once
> was and the soldier their son was also, I hope to enable them to reach
> that peace a little sooner and a little easier.  I think I can make a
> difference.  I’m definitely going to try.
>  
> My old Scoutmaster gave me that flag for the new troop and then
> proceeded to weed out excess equipment for the new troop.  That meant
> a lot to me.  It meant even more to the boys in that troop who came
> from not so well to do families.  It meant they had a flag to say the
> pledge of allegiance to at the beginning of the troop meeting.  It
> meant they got to go camping in tents just like the rest of the troops
> in town.
>  
> I have taken good care of that flag.  It deserves it.  It was first
> displayed from the staff of an unknown U S Marine as he went ashore on
> one of the Soloman Islands. Just before he transitioned from the water
> to the beach, he was shot and killed and the flag went down with him. 
> My Scoutmaster, a native of Denmark who personally knew “Green Bar
> Bill” Hilcourt and personally met Baden Powell at a world jamboree
> just before WWII broke out was an unarmed photographer in the U S
> Navy SeaBees picked up that flag and carried it ashore.  He flew it
> from his pill box darkrooms on many of the islands throughout the rest
> of the war.
>  
> Some twenty five years later, he gave it to me to use.
>  
> I have displayed it properly several times at Fourth of July
> celebrations telling of it's history and the part it played in
> preserving the freedon we all enjoy today.
>  
> I have flown it on special occasions.  I have never flown it in the
> rain.  I have never flown it at night.  I have never used it to drape
> anything nor will I.  It may be used to cover the casket of any WWII
> veteran who desires.  That's a fitting service of this particular
> American Flag.
>  
> Sorry, I got off on another tract there for a moment but you get the
> idea.
>  
>  
> But tomorrow it will be properly displayed along the procession route
> for U S Army PFC Brandon Bobb.
>  
> Well what does this have to do with the crew leaders flag?  Each of us
> shows respect to others and to our nation in a different way and we
> need to respect the other person for their expression of hopes,
> desires and wishes. 
>  
> I have my own opinions, but I stand steadfast that dragging the
> American Flag across a dirty log or through the dust, dirt or mud when
> de-packing at Philmont just lacks a little something.  I stand
> steadfast that wadding it up like a bandana and stuffing it into a
> pack pocket for the night just lacks a little something.  I think
> there is a better way and I think the time for change just might be
> now.  For certain change is the only thing that is constant in our
> lives.  I could go on and on and on to illustrate this, but you
> already know of it anyway.
>  
> Norman Rockwell would have never painted the American Flag draped on
> the back of a Boy Scout pack.  Maybe on a staff that Scout carried
> high and proudly, but never draped on the pack and if it’s good enough
> for Norman Rockwell, it’s good enough for me.
>  
> In September I'll be carrying the American flag with me at Philmont as
> others will on our Autumn Adventure, but I assure you where I will not
> be carrying the Amercian Flag is tied across the back of my pack. 
> That's where I will be carrying my newly washed hiking socks to dry
> just like Colin Fletcher did on all his backpacking treks.
>  
> And somehow the American Flag deserves a little more than to be
> displayed hanging from a clothesline.
>  
> No, I don't need to hang my socks out to dry on my pack, but it's my
> way of showing respect for Colin Fletcher.  He was one of my
> mentors. He just recently died.   I learned a lot from his writings,
> but most importantly I learned that you don't have to be a star
> athlete to be good at backpacking and enjoy camping in remote places. 
> Like him, a short, stocky, middle aged old fart can do just fine and
> that's what I do and enjoy!
>  
> See you on the trail.
>  
> John LeBlanc
Received on Fri Jul 27 11:36:35 2007