4 Scout Masters Killed

“http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/25/jamboree.deaths.ap/index.html

why the hell were there power lines so low at a scout jamboree??!!”

“Man, what a horrible thing to happen during such a normaly great event.”

“does anyone else see a problem with holding it at an army base?

i guess it could be alright but it just doesn't sound right to me...i don't know, that's just me talkin”

“In my line of work thats one of the very first things you do. LOOK UP... Why did these men not look up and see the obvious danger before hand? And,second Iam with you ,why were there power lines in a Jamboree camping area in the first place? Poor site selection by the planning group. This is a tragedy that did not have to happen.”

““does anyone else see a problem with holding it at an army base?"

The Army and the BSA have always had a working relationship from everything I've ever seen. Many functions are held on bases. Actual scout leaders could fill ya in more than I can though.”

“It's my understanding the adult leaders were putting up the giant tents, kinda like circus tents, that the groups meet in.

The poles for those tents will be very large.

I worked for a Power Company while in school and people were getting into power lines with ladders, backhoes, cranes, ect. all the time.

People just do not look up.”

“If you don't want power lines, do without electricity, or pay the greatly increased cost of underground service.”

“Keep watching the skies......”

“Or get on your bicycle generator.”

“My first reaction was also why are the lines so low but I attended a National Jamboree in '87 (I think, it's been awhile) and Stovie's comment jogged my memory and I remembered that some of the location tents are indeed big white circus tents. So no, the lines aren't low, the regional hub tents are huge.

There is no problem with it being held at an Army base.

Fort AP Hill is the one of the best locations for that event. You need to understand that during the National Jamboree Fort AP Hill becomes the third largest city in Virginia due to the TENS of thousands of Scouts who will attend.

The Jambo used to move around the country to give more scouts access to the event but because it has grown so huge that only a limited number of locations have the infrastructure to handle it. Also the National Janboree is only held every four years. It's just not feasable to do every year.

What other location can handle that? It's much smarter to hold it at a facility that is designed to become a tent city on demand. It would be a much worse decision to try and hold it someplace like a national forest or some such.

It's an awesome experience to attend one.
last edited: 7/26/05 9:48:59 AM”

“second HPM's comments.

I attended in 81 as a participant and in 85 on staff (OA Service Corps, for those who know what that is).

AP Hill has had the event every 4 years since 1981 and does a great job. The Army and the BSA have a good working relationship.

This was a very unfortunate accident.”

“My partner has been involved with the regional ones?? maybe. 10k people. The one I recall was held at the Talladega raceway. He said they had landaplenty at that thing.”

“Yep it was '85 that I was there.
75th anniversary year right?”

“This is incredibly sad and unfortunate. For many scouts, the Jamboree is a rite of passage of sorts that the boys that they remember for the rest of their lives. Now they have this terrible tragedy to add to the memory. My son attended four years ago and he still talks about the experience.

This may be the last year that the event will be held on AP Hill. Evidently there was a recent court ruling as a result by a lawsuit of the ACLU that the government couldn't support this event because the Boy Scouts have an oath of duty to God.”

“the ACLU strikes again...what was once an organization that fought for equality now fights to ruin everyone's fun

i wish i would have stuck with scouts...my troop disbanded when i was 14 and i never sought another one”

“sorry...guess that belongs on fuego...the aclu is a hot button for me”

“Well timecline, now you have a bunch of wacko backpackers on this board to hang out with! LOL”

“Sad situation.

I worked with a guy many years ago who got electrocuted while putting up a CB antenna at his house. He hit the power line. The power line was in tree branches and he probably didn't see it.

My son is an Eagle Scout and tells me that some branches of the military give a one pay grade increase at signing for just being an Eagle Scout.”

“yeah hpm 75th anniv -I probably delivered ice to your subcamp!”

“The military also sees the Jambo as recruiting tool and also training for setting up temp cities, in case of need elsewhere. (Call it "Refugee Camp 101.")”

“Our prayers go out to the troops and families.”

“Yeah this kinda sucks. My condolences go out to those folks. No one should ever have to come home from a camping trip like that...”

“When I first heard of the accident...I thought it was one of those one or two person tents. I was thinking how could one of those tent poles touch an electric wire...unless the wire was hung really low. Then I saw a photo on the news, of the giant tent they were trying to put up....seems like the center pole touched the wire.”

“Man that's terrible. The Boy Scouts is an awesome thing for young lads!! Bene of Eagle Scout is not only for getting one pay grade higher in most of the military branches, but colleges look at Eagle Scouts with a much more favorable eye as well. They are exposed to much more diversity than non-scouts, as a general rule. I know for a fact that NC med schools like to see Eagle Scouts.

As far as the ACLU goes, (here's my fuego one-liner), it dislikes the Boy Scouts much more for the homo situation than it does for the Oath and duty to God.”

“I'm not trying to slam the ACLU or the Boy Scouts, but they kind of have conflicting interests. You really can't take any positions the ACLU has on the Boy Scouts (and vice versa too) seriously and still consider it fair.”

“And as far as the duty to God goes, it's actually coupled with country, as in duty to God and Country. This leaves me wondering if that reference was created for the same reasons all our money says In God We Trust and the phrase under God in the Pledge of Allegance, for which the reason was actually political rather than religious.

Perhaps the word God isn't broad enough to cover its own traditional meaning according to post-modern philosophy, but scouting philosophies clearly demonstrate that some type of faith is definitely an important virtue. After all, a scout is reverent, no?

Sorry, maybe this should have been a Fuego topic, but this seemed like an appropriate thread for it. The Boy Scouts have been taking a lot of bad rap lately, and being an Eagle Scout myself, I feel like I should say something in its defense.”

“Ya, I'm a Scout defender too, but unlike you Phantom, I'm a Eagle Scout wannabe. Got the car, dropped Scouts with so little for Eagle, then rejoined shortly before turning 18 to complete 3 badges, and did a killer Eagle Project signing a trail, and building a covered roadside infoboard for the trailhead there ................. and we (me and my Scoutmaster) hit a the wall/rule that I should have been a troopmember no less than 6 months before turning 18. Bummer.”

“Yes, one of the virtues of scouting is that a scout is reverent. I was happy to see many faiths represented at Philmont Scout Ranch, including an open air synagogue right accross from the Catholic church of the same design.

On the 4th of July, our crew attended the Catholic mass at Philmont. The mass finished earlier than the Jewish service. As the scouts who had attended the mass walked by the synagogue, they held up two fingers as a sign to other scouts to be quiet because the Jewish service was still going on. To me this was a representation of acceptance and respect of different faiths in scouting.

This week the senate voted unanimously to allow the Boy Scouts to use military bases for their functions. So maybe there is still hope that future Jamoborees will be held at AP Hill.”

“I disagree with the ACLU on many points but they do have a right to exist.

However, the ACLU fails to mention that the BSA has spent over 20 million to improve the infrastructure of Fort A.P. Hill. It's the same situation on every piece of public property the BSA has leases on and the ACLU is trying to kick us off of.

And as mentioned by other here, the US Army gets valuable training in mobilizing and organizing 40,000 civilians.

It isn't a free ride.”

“The memories of my Nat Jamboree are still vivid 32 years later. How sad for the boys that witnessed this accident. I understand two of the victims had their own children there.”

“It's bad enough to lose a parent but to be that young and actually witness it?

The trauma will be with them for a long time.”