Scouting Loses 4 great scouts.

My Way News - Boy Scouts praised as heroes after twister kills 4:

"Killed were Aaron Eilerts, 14, of Eagle Grove, Iowa, and Josh Fennen, 13, Sam Thomsen, 13, and Ben Petrzilka, 14, all of Omaha, Neb. Roitstein said all four had taken shelter in a building that was leveled, and all of them were found near its collapsed stone chimney. The governor said the cause of death had not been determined."

This is so sad. My Scout and I watched the news this morning ... and he cuddled into my lap. He thought it was so sad ... he couldn't believe that boys just a year older than him had died. Normally he ignores the news - but this one hit home with him hard.

When I first heard of the incident last night my heart skipped a beat ... a lump came to my throat ... and the pit of my stomach hurt - because my first thought was 'thank goodness it wasn't my son' ... then I hurt for those families, those poor families - and now it turns out that some of the scouts were from the neighboring state ... not an easy travel for those parents to see if their child/loved one was okay. I hope they were given rides instead of having to drive themselves.

We have been to simular camps here. The shelters are basically raised cabins with hardware cloth around the stilts to keep the 'coons from nesting underneath.

I had always assumed that in case of an emergency there was some sort of cellar for people to go into .... I guess not.

While they are sturdy, they really are nothing more than large garages (I guess that's the best way to describe them) -- nothing that would really hold up.

But the boys who did survive acted - WOW - how many of us would know exactly what to do?? I think most people would be standing around in shock until someone gave them orders.

"... Putting their first-aid training to use, they applied tourniquets and gauze to the injured. Some began digging victims from the rubble of a collapsed chimney. And others broke into an equipment shed, seized chainsaws and other tools, and started clearing fallen trees from a road ...
... Gov. Chet Culver ... believes the Scouts saved lives while they waited for paramedics to cut through the trees and reach the camp a mile into the woods ..."

I could not imagine a bunch of boys - and they are boys, not men - thinking clear enough to start all this right away. I don't think my 19 yr old would know how to use a chain saw, much less my 12 yr old boy scout!

But then this is what scouting is all about -- teaching these kids how to react, how to help, how to serve others.

"... a group of Scouts pulled the camp ranger and his family from their destroyed home. Doug Rothgeb of Omaha said his 15-year-old son emerged from a ditch where he had taken cover, then joined other Scouts to break into the equipment shed.

Fourteen-year-old Zach Jessen of Fremont, Neb., said that before the storm struck, someone spotted the rotation in the clouds and a siren sounded in the multipurpose building, which had tables and a TV in addition to a fireplace. Jessen said he and others managed to get Scouts out of their tents and indoors just before the tornado hit. According to Roitstein, the Scouts took shelter in three buildings ..."

It was a good thing they got those boys out of the tents because:

" .... Tree limbs rested on top of the Scouts' tents. Trees were flattened. And the one-room multipurpose building where the Scouts died was a pile of cinderblocks and chimney stones ..."

there would have been many more deaths -- so much more (each tent sleeps at least 2 boys). The buildings I've seen/been in? Wood ... maybe some metal for structure ... but that's it.

Hug your kids tonight -- hug them tight.