LANGLEY, Ark. — Six Louisiana Boy Scouts stranded by high water in an Arkansas forest said after being reunited with their families yesterday that they never feared camping in an area where 20 people died in a flash flood last summer.
“I was worried that my parents would freak out,’’ said Ian Fuselier, 13. National Guard helicopter plucked the boys and two scoutmasters from the Albert Pike Recreation Area at daybreak yesterday after the boys’ parents spent 36 hours awaiting their rescue.
It does not surprise me in the least that the Scouts were able to survive just fine. The Scouting program is all about preparation; how to best prep yourself for possibly trying circumstances so that not only will you survive, but you will thrive. For those Scouts this was little more than a wet camping trip (and as a Scout there are lots of those - hence the term "liquid sunshine"...).
Every once in a while I like to post a happy, positive story - just to show it's not all HATE RAGE...
That is all.
11 comments:
Clearly one of our country's great institutions! Don't you just love the Boy Scouts? 36 hours? Piece of cake for a troop of scouts... Another 24 hours and they would have had a multi-level condo with running water and electricity!
Often just the realization that things CAN go wrong is enough to survive when they do. It's all about mindset.
I'm glad the Boy Scouts still teach that.
90% of the game is 50% mental, eh Alan Berra? :)
Just remember your 6Ps and you'll be fine...
Jay,
While the happy stories are indeed bright spots in otherwise dull, drab and dreary days, please do keep us entertained with the HATE-RAGE posts.
And as an Eagle Scout, I can tell you it IS all about the mind set. In the Dec 2008 ice storm where I lost power for five days, I managed to keep the family clothed, fed, and reasonably warm -- and the training instilled in me back from the late 1970's kicked in like I was trained yesterday.
- Brad
Probably the best lessons on self-reliance and teamwork I ever learned were in the Boy Scouts.
Covering for your buddies who were trying to start a campfire with paint thinner, prompting the park ranger to come investigate the fireball counts as teamwork, right?
I hold a degree in Engineering Physics from Cornell and was a long time scout and a staffer at Philmont. If it came down to choosing which was the more useful education, I would have to choose what I learned in Scouting, though over the years the two have complimented each other quite well.
As an Eagle Scout (Troop 1940, Ronan, MT), I am personnally proud of my brethren today. Growing up in Western MT, I actually took some of the lessons learned for granted. EVERYBODY up there knows most of what the Scouts teach. Once I moved to the big city Phoenix AZ) I realized how few of us actually know this stuff. I keep enough in my POCKETS for 36 hours. Hundreds of people are hauled off of mountains IN THE CITY LIMITS cause they didn't bring water to hike in 100+ degree temps. Five Eagle Scouts in my generation of my family (myself, brother, three cousins). I'd back any of us against some of the cops down here for survival. Way to go, Scouts!
The Boy Scouts taught me so many life lessons which are invaluable.
Consequently, I have two bug out bags ready for my family because of the mindset that it instills.
I implore the readers to have a backpack of survival gear ready just in case of an emergency. It will provide you with peace of mind and could be a real asset.
They find themselves trapped on the wrong side of rising water. What do they do?
Find the high ground, stay put, built a big fire to be seen, take care of each other.
Scouts, it's just what I would have expected. Good on 'em.
Forget everything else... they got to ride in a Blackhawk. I'm sure that will go down as the best camping trip EVER.
My Explorer Group that was associated with the 29th ID got lost on a mountaintop in Western Maryland back when I was a kid. The nature of the fire roads(that they frequently go in a circle on the top of each peak) confused us for a while. And when we attempted to navigate out via radio tower lights we got a little annoyed when we realized there were many of them up there. After about 6 hours of trial and error we finally sat down, ate a little grub and thought about it a bit. While we were sitting there in the starlight, thinking over the situation, one of us noticed that we could hear the Potomac River trickling down in the valley.
Having finally found a permanent navigation guide we finally hiked our butts down to the local town and waited at the local bar and general store until the scoutmasters showed up. It was an excellent lesson in teamwork and persistence. I'm sure many are wondering why none of us had a compass. Unfortunately, we were all poor as could be. It was hard to even get the guys to cough up the $7 for yearly insurance.
Still, it's a memory that gives me strength in hard times.
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