President Visits Boy Scout Jamboree for Memorial Service

Last week was a terrible and unfortunate week for the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scout Jamboree being held about at Fort A.P. Hill, about an hour south of the White House, has drawn more than 40,000 Scouting enthusiasts from around the world and was planned to be an exciting, adventurous, educational experience for everyone attending. But on Monday the excitement turned to tragedy when four Boy Scout leaders of Western Alaskan Troops 711 and 713 were electrocuted and killed while pitching a dining tent underneath power lines.

The Jamboree is divided into subcamps, each of which was responsible for putting up a dining tent for the Scouts in their division. The 7,000 acres where the Jamboree is being held are crisscrossed by many power lines, but there is ample room for the subcamps to erect their tents out of the reach of overhanging tree limbs and power lines. For some reason unbeknownst to anyone, the Scout leaders had hired a contractor to help with erecting their dining tent, and the tall metal pole at the center of the large white tent came into contact with power lines. Some Scouts witnessed the deaths of the leaders and screams rang out as the tent caught fire and the men burned to death. Four other adults were injured. Scouts spokesman Gregg Shields told reporters, "Boy Scouts are taught not to put their tents under trees or under power lines. I don't know what happened in that case." An investigation into the accident is incomplete.

A memorial service for the four men killed had been planned for Wednesday, and President Bush was scheduled to attend, but his trip had to be postponed because the threat of severe thunderstorms and strong winds made it too risky for his helicopter to fly to the area. Hundreds of scouts were awaiting his arrival despite temperatures in the upper 90s and high humidity. But before his appearance was called off, over 300 of the Boy Scouts succumbed to the high heat and had to be taken to area hospitals where they were treated for heat exhaustion. Jamboree officials called for emergency assistance from surrounding areas and ambulances came to transport the Scouts just as the thunderstorms began to roll in. As high winds and lightning buffeted the area, soldiers carried scouts on stretchers to the base hospital about three miles away, and others were airlifted out and taken to hospitals. Most of the boys were treated and released, but dozens had to spend the night in hospitals recovering.

The president’s visit was rescheduled to Thursday, but then the Boy Scouts decided to ask that his visit be pushed ahead to Sunday evening to give them time to recover from the dual traumas suffered earlier in the week. Flags have been flying at half-staff near the shooting range of the fort, and announcements have been made to inform leaders not to erect structures taller than 6 feet. Cautions about avoiding heat exposure were also distributed to all the troops, although the temperatures in the area have already dropped. Hopefully after last week’s two postponements, President Bush will finally make it to the Boy Scout Jamboree Sunday night to commemorate the four Scout leaders that were killed, thereby bringing some closure to a week of sorrow and sadness for the Boy Scouts.