[Philmont] See you on the trail

Wow is right.
 
John, one vet to another, I salute you.

________________________________

From: Philmont@troop47.com [mailto:Philmont@troop47.com] On Behalf Of
John LeBlanc
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 12:14 PM
To: Philmont List Member
Subject: [Philmont] See you on the trail

 
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
 

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Received on Fri Jul 27 11:51:45 2007