1941. I remember Pearl Harbor because the next day this Tenderfoot donned his Scout uniform to show his patriotism.
1953. I camped at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico to learn ‘wood badge’ outdoor skills. That’s the summer I became world ‘famous’ in the international Boy Scout movement.
One of 48 adult Scout leaders invited to Philmont, we learned advanced woodcraft training so we could teach other Scout leaders. We divided into eight-men crews, slept under a tarp, learned Dutch-oven cooking, learned how to find food that grew in the woods. Everyone in my eight-man crew had been Eagle Scouts. Three men were Scout professionals.
The Chief Scout of the World was Thomas Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan. En-route to the International Boy Scout Jamboree in California, the Chief Scout visited Philmont to review American Wood Badge training.
Because our crew of eight excelled at cooking over a campfire, the Chief Scout was sent to eat our lunch. We found extra foodstuffs in the nearby storeroom and cooked him an eight-course dinner. My job was to serve the food cooked for him. However the Boy Scout issue pot had a skinny wire handle, an accident waiting to happen.
I spilled soup on the Chief Scout of the World. He was unhappy. And the weak tea I served made him even less gracious.
After lunch the Chief Scout spoke to the training group. His speech opened with “I have Scouted all over the World…” He then listed the tundra of Norway, the jungles of Asia, the deserts of North Africa, and other remote places.
Then he repeated, “I have scouted all over the world, but never, Never before have I had a lanky Texan spill soup in my lap.”
We laughed. He must have been pleased. The next week, the Chief Scout repeated the story to laughing thousands at the International Boy Scout Jamboree. My Texas Scouting friends returned and told me I was now ‘famous.’
