Governor Perry has written an outstanding book which raises the "Clarion call" for us all to be alert to the attacks on scouting from the "So-called" Progressive Movement.
As an Eagle scout myself, I know the worth of the values I learned from scouting. Values that I still try to live up to in my career in the field of education.
God Bless Governor Prry for his support and may God continue to Bless the Boy Scouts.

James A. (Jim) Ratledge
School Improvement Consultant
Tennessee Exemplary Educator Program

I am in the reading of this book, I find it fabulous. I am proud to be back with the BSA and know that they will not bend to the secular left on it principles, morals and faith in God.
Although I knew of a few law suits against the BSA, I never thought that there were so many. I have decided to start speaking to some of the churches (starting with my church) in my district and asking that they set aside a donation fund for the BSA legal defense posted in the back of the book. Also, if all goes well, maybe a fund raiser from our local district and/or council. I want to join the fight, I pray that God uses me and I hope that I want let him down.



Michael A. Noble, Eagle Scout

Dear Gov. Perry.
I enjoyed your book immensely. I was never in Scouts but I believe in everything they stand for and was so proud of my son, Daniel, for persevering in his quest for the Eagle Scout Award.
Daniel received his Eagle 3 years ago. I had to hold back the tears when his mother pinned the Eagle on him.
Daniel was speech delayed and had difficulties in fine motor skill development. He also was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder. As a result was labeled 'learning disabled.
But Daniel persevered and overcame his 'disabilities'. He soon will enter his senior year in college as a criminal justice major.
The lessons he learned in Scouts I believe, gave him the confidence to work through his early limitations. These lessons will also serve him well into his adult years and in whatever occupation life leads him.
Thank you for writing this book and for exposing those forces that want to permanently alter the core values and beliefs of the Boy Scouts.

This book was very compelling to me. I am an Eagle Scout. Scouts to me represents the heart and soul of America. The fact that disgruntled political action groups such as the ACLU find it necessary to declare war on such harmless and virtuous values-oriented organizations as the Boy Scouts of America(BSA) is a great mystery to me. This book exposes such efforts in attempt to gather support to minimize these advances on the BSA. In addition to the exposee within its covers, Rick Perry has agreed to donate any proceeds to the Legal Defense Fund of the BSA which is equipped to fight such rabbles as the ACLU and other liberal organizations. If you stand for family values and common sense, you will purchase this great book and share it with all your friends! Enjoy!

thank you governor perry
i started reading your book and could not put it down untill i got done with it i was a scout in the 80's and and a new scout leader now and i saw so many changes and not all them for the good i also surved in iraq and i would like to see how the aclu would fair in a country like iraq. they sould be thankful they live in a country were they can say and do the stupid things they do any other country they would be killed for treason its groups like the boy scouts and the military that makes there freedom posible they need to wonder if they go after other peaple freedoms and win that will also make it were peaple can come after theres

Gov Perry,

I wanted to thank you for writing this book and bringing the issues of scouting to light. Scouting has provided my two brothers and I (all Eagle Scouts) the foundation that has lasted through both my personal and family life. As a New York State Trooper (who's detail assited your's during the republican national convention in 2004) it has built the foundation for all the values we strive for in my current occupation.

The book brought back many memories of my youth and the great experiences I had. As a father of two boys, I am thrilled to embark on my second tour through scouting and enjoy the journey with my sons.

I have encouraged many people to read your book and to educate themselves on the attacks against scouting.

Once again, thanks for the great read.

Sincerely,

Gus Talleur March 2009

dear rick perry,
Iam from tampa florida and I told my neibor about your book who is a scouting leading and he e mailed his fell scouting leaders and they also bout your book.
I want to make a suggestion to you on your web site since the holidays are coming up you might put a big note up on there saying that your book would make a nice gift also sice your running for office could you put your book on your web site and menchion great holiday gift
tom

Governor Perry,
Thank you for having the courage to write this book. I was encouraged to buy the book after hearing you on the Neal Boortz show earlier this week. I didn't expect a book like this to be a "page turner" but it definitely was, as I finished it in less than 24 hours. I went through the cub scout program, but only got as far as tenderfoot in Boy Scouts. My 11-year old son has recently crossed over from Cub Scouts and wants to become an Eagle. As a parent, I only want my children to be better than I was and I will do everything I can to help him progress through the Boy Scout program. His troop (#170 in Macon, GA) has a library mostly merit badge books - and I plan to donate my copy of "On My Honor" to this library. I fully expect to buy other copies, as the supply won't keep up with the demand. I was excited to see that your publisher is right here in my hometown. Also, my mother was a Perry, from a great family with roots in Jasper County, Georgia. Thank you again for writing this book and may God continue to bless you and your work as governor.
Ben Sandifer

As an scout leader ithink this book woul be a great read for fellow scout leader . I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF ITS POSSIBLE TO GRT TWO AUTOGRAPHED COPIES IF SO HOW DO YOU ORDER THEM THANKS TROOP 653

The Kamp King

A short story by Robert Walter
Dedicated to Robert Griffith Walter and Robert Gray Walter
Although everythinbg in this story is not exactly true about my dad, it is all true about one person or another I met in Scouting.

I was so excited I could not sit still. Not that many 8 year olds could sit still for very long anyway, but I was especially wired. Tonight I was going to be made a Bobcat Cub Scout. I had attended three Den meetings and learned the oath, law of the pack and the secret handshake. My mom had already bought me an Official Cub Scout Uniform shirt. It seemed a little big until she explained that all the stuff I would be doing in scouts would add muscle to fill in the shirt nicely. Best of all was the Official Cub Scout Belt. It was blue cotton instead of dull leather. It had a belt buckle that shined like gold. And most outstanding of all, it had a hook hanging from it where the most cherished thing any young boy could want, an Official Cub Scout Pocket Knife with the Scout Emblem embossed on the blue plastic which was carved to look like bone.

With a knife like that, a boy could stand tall among his peers, He wouldn’t need any other tool or ever have reason to fear attacks by any wild thing that might be lurking in the Blackjack forests around Bartlesville, Oklahoma ever again. I didn’t have the knife yet but I was sure tonight was the night. At supper, I was too excited to have any more than just two helpings of the meat loaf my mom made for me, even though it was my favorite and she had made it special for me tonight. I had seen dad take a box out of his overcoat pocket when he got out of the car from his carpool home. The box was just the right size to hold an Official Cub Scout Pocket Knife with the Scout Emblem embossed on the blue plastic which was carved to look like bone.

When my little sister and brother were finally finished scattering their food across the family table, my dad wiped his chin with his napkin, leaned back in his chair and reached into his trouser pocket. He pulled out a box and set it on the table. He looked me in the eye and said, “Here is something you will need to take special care of. My father, your Granddad, gave me one when I joined Scouts. It takes a lot of responsibility to use one of these things safely and wisely. Do you think you are up to it?”

I put on my most sincere face and said I would cherish it till the day I died and that I would only use it to make things and protect people and never accidentally cut anything that wasn’t supposed to be cut. Then he pushed the box over to me and nodded at it for me to open it. The box was plain white cardboard. The flap was at the end. I pulled the flap so hard it tore off and out popped a knife. It was bigger than I expected. I had seen Jimmy, my older friend’s Official Cub Scout Pocket Knife with the Scout Emblem embossed on the blue plastic which was carved to look like bone. And this wasn’t one of them. It was black metal on the outside. Where it was supposed to have an embossed Scout Symbol on the side it had a little metal scroll on which was etched “Kamp King.”
Although it would never have been able to hold two knives, I looked into the box to see if there was more. Then I looked at the Kamp King again. It was a knife but it wasn’t an Official Cub Scout Pocket Knife with the Scout Emblem embossed on the blue plastic which was carved to look like bone. It was a little bit bigger and clunkier. It had a blade that didn’t have anything etched where the Boy Scout symbol should have been etched. It had a leather punch like the Official Cub Scout Pocket Knife with the Scout Emblem embossed on the blue plastic which was carved to look like bone and it had a pop bottle opener/screw driver like the real thing. It also had a can opener, which the Official Cub Scout Pocket Knife with the Scout Emblem embossed on the blue plastic which was carved to look like bone didn’t. But why would I need one of those? I was not going to get my camp food from cans. I was going to skin it myself with my Official Cub Scout Pocket Knife with the Scout Emblem embossed on the blue plastic which was carved to look like bone.

I looked at my dad and said thanks, just thanks, and walked away from the table without even asking to be excused. That night was still one I would remember all my life, even if I had just faced the biggest disappointment any boy could face. They called my name to come up in front of all those people at the Pack Meeting. There must have been thirty five families there focusing their attention on me, and the two other boys getting their Bobcat Pins that night. The Cubmaster, who was our family doctor, told our dads to hold us upside down by our ankles. Then he gave the pins to our mothers and told them to pin them on our pockets right side up to them, so the pins would be upside down when our dad’s put us down. Then in one of the most solemn voices I have ever heard, and on more than one occasion I heard Doctor Wilson tell me to get ready because something he was going to do to me was going to hurt, Cubmaster Wilson told us that until we did a good deed, we would have to wear the pin upside down. Only after we did a good deed in the presence of our parents or another adult, could we turn the pin over.

I was elated but I do remember Sammy, who was hanging upside down next to me like a bat in a cave, had his Official Cub Scout Pocket Knife with the Scout Emblem embossed on the blue plastic which was carved to look like bone, attached to the hook on his belt. My hook was empty. I had never gone back to the kitchen to take the Kamp King off the table. As we left the school gymnasium, my mom noticed that my sister had left her coat back in the building. I ran back and got it for her and my mom bent down and instead of kissing me, she unpinned my Bobcat Pin and repinned it on right side up. When we got home, even though it was almost 9 o’clock and past our bedtime. Mom had ice cream for us to celebrate. As we sat at the kitchen table, the Kamp King was nowhere in sight. I asked my folks how I could earn the $4.50 it would cost to buy an Official Cub Scout Pocket Knife with the Scout Emblem embossed on the blue plastic which was carved to look like bone. My dad excused himself and said he had to leave for work early in the morning.
The next evening, after supper, while we were still at the table talking about what we had done and learned at school and at work that day, my dad leaned back in his chair and reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a box. This box had a blue cardboard lid that opened like a shoe box. It had a gold colored diamond symbol on the top. He pushed the box over to me. I opened it up and inside was the shiniest Official Cub Scout Pocket Knife with the Scout Emblem embossed on the blue plastic which was carved to look like bone that anyone had ever seen. I got up and hugged my dad and said thank you a million times. The next day I took it to school with me and lost it before I even got home. Dad and Mom walked the ¾ mile trail from the house to the school four times with me, until it got too dark to see, looking for that knife. A week later my dad handed me the torn box with the Kamp King in it. He said he never returned it since the box was torn. He said if I took care of it better than I did the Official Cub Scout Pocket Knife with the Scout Emblem embossed on the blue plastic which was carved to look like bone, then someday I might find that it was just as good.

As a Cub Scout, I used that Kamp King to carve a statue made of soap. I smoothed the surface of my pinewood derby car. I cut paper and sharpened pencils with it. On my Webelo cookout, I used it to prepare my meal. On that cookout, I had brought a foil dinner that my dad helped me prepare. I had used the Kamp King to cut potatoes and carrots and onions and then rolled them up with hamburger meat and salt in aluminum foil at home the night before. When the fire had burned down to coals, I threw the foil in the fire and waited. I had nothing to do while the other boys were cooking their hamburger patties and French fries in their Official Boy Scout Aluminum Mess Kits with folding handles and enclosed stew pots over roaring flames. Dr. Wilson had told us that you were supposed to cook over coals but we could see that was too slow so the other boys, and maybe me to, kept feeding the fire and trying our best to put more wood on the fire and stir their food in their Official Boy Scout Aluminum Mess Kits with folding handles and enclosed stew pots without singeing off the last of our eyebrows. While the other boys scraped black gunk out of and off of their Official Boy Scout Aluminum Mess Kits with folding handles and enclosed stew pots, all I could do was eat my meal and throw away my foil. Jimmy had tried to stir his stew: it started out as a hamburger but quickly degenerated into a stew, with the official Boy Scout mess kit cup that came in his Official Boy Scout Aluminum Mess Kits with folding handles and enclosed stew pot, but since the cup was plastic, it quickly became another ingredient in his stew and a residual coating on the inside of his skillet. Foil dinner was not what I had in mind about camp food and I determined to do it like the other boys next time.

As we drove home that night I asked my dad how I could earn $5.75 to buy an Official Boy Scout Aluminum Mess Kits with folding handles and enclosed stew pot before I went on my first official Boy Scout campout. He told me how when he was a scout they made their own mess gear from number 10 cans and how you could make everything you needed for cooking for a whole patrol of eight boys with just 12 cans and a little solder. He remembered how he and his dad had made a set before their first Scout Summer Camp. I said maybe I could mow yards to get the money.

I got my Tenderfoot Pin in a Court of Honor in the Church basement. Two weeks later, I was on my first Scout campout, doing my cooking requirement for my Second Class rank. As sharp as I kept that old Kamp King, it didn’t flip that hamburger worth a darn. It just seemed to gouge long scrapes in the bottom of the skillet part of the Official Boy Scout Aluminum Mess Kits with folding handles and enclosed stew pot that my folks had just bought me. And the folding handle turned out not to be any good after I lost the wing nut that held it on and the handle to boot. I did manage to keep the plate/lid part all the way through my trip to Philmont four years later. I never again cooked in it after that first try, but it was a light weight, easy to clean bowl that you could bend back into shape after dropping an over packed backpack on it. Before the second camp out, My dad took me to the Army surplus store and showed me that for one dollar and ten cents, I could get an Army surplus mess kit that was made out of steel and the handle was fastened on so strongly that a tank rolling over it could not tear it off. I was a little hesitant until he told me that it was possible that one of those mess kits had been with some friends of his at the Battle of the Bulge. Until that time I had never even considered that the man who went to work each day as an accountant had ever even been in the military.

Two summers later, I was the Patrol Leader for the Squirrel Patrol. I taught my younger scouts how to whip the end of a rope that I had cut with that old, dented and stained but really sharp Kamp King, and how to set up tents and pack their packs; how to open cans with the can opener on that old knife and demonstrated a dozen times, the correct way to sharpen a blade. I was still not that good at getting their cooperation though. My dad came on all the campouts but he seemed to stay in the background on all of them while other Men lead the skits, told stories and were always offering suggestions and advice on better ways to do things. Dad seemed like he always waited for me to ask him what he thought. I seldom asked. I remembered reading that you had to have duty rosters so that every person knew what their job was and so that everyone did their fair share. On the other hand, I didn’t want to mess with writing stuff down. This was camping for gosh sakes, not school.

One summer evening we had just finished eating supper when Scoutmaster Wilson announced that we would be leaving on the bus to go get ice cream as soon as all the patrol gear was cleaned. My guys were all over by one of the Assistant Scoutmasters who was demonstrating how to treat a simulated crocodile bite, complete with catsup for blood, on one of my young patrol members. I had counted on everyone pitching in and getting all the pots scrubbed but it didn’t seem to be happening. Soon Scoutmaster Wilson came by and noticed that even though I had cleaned the Dutch oven myself, there were still skillets, dishes and other utensils that needed to be cleaned. He said with that somber voice of his that our patrol would have to stay behind and clean while everyone else went for ice cream.

My patrol boys said it wasn’t fair. Scoutmaster Wilson asked whose turn it was on the duty roster to clean that night. They said there wasn’t a duty roster and it wasn’t fair. They were right. I told Scoutmaster Wilson that I had failed to make a duty roster and so it was my fault. I would stay behind and clean if he would let the rest of my guys go get ice cream. Scoutmaster Wilson agreed only if I also made a duty roster for the next two campouts and had them ready for him to inspect when he returned. I agreed and my guys were gone in a flash. All but the newest kid. He was a pest. He was always hanging around me when I wanted to do something with the older boys. He was always asking me to show him how to do something or to test him on one of his second class requirements. Up to that day, I always gave him the least amount of my time I could get by with. That night he said he would not go get ice cream either. He would stay and help me clean up. I had to show him how to do it all but he worked the whole time. Two years later, when I got my Eagle, I gave my Eagle Promise Coin to him to signify that I thought he had what it took to be an Eagle himself. Two years after that he was the Senior Patrol Leader of the Troop and an Eagle himself.

But back on that night when I was still patrol leader, when they came back, one of my guys said he almost brought some ice cream back for me but another boy had knocked it out of his hand just goofing around. Later, when everyone was getting ready for bed, my dad walked up. He apologized that the ice cream was a little soft but it was a two mile walk to the dairy Queen the others had earlier visited in the bus. We sat on a rock and watched the moon rise and drank ice cream. We didn’t say a word to each other. It was great.

Our troop had a reservation for a crew of ten boys and two dad’s to go to Philmont two years later. I was the Senior Patrol Leader and I would be the Crew Leader. Dad had told me that even though he was an Eagle Scout when he was a boy, with the depression and then the war, he regretted never going on a high adventure trip like Philmont. He wished he could go this time but one of the other dad’s was going with Mr. Wilson. They both had new Chevy Suburbans that were big enough to carry six people apiece and being new, were up to the trip. Our station wagon was six years old and probably on it’s last legs. Dad said he knew that I would have enough to do as the Crew leader to not be worrying with taking care of him. Besides, he was up for a promotion at work and needed to make the best impression he could on his boss in the coming months so he could buy us a Suburban. They were working on a big project at his office and he was needed there.

Two weeks before the day we were supposed to leave, Mr. Wilson came by the house. In his somberest voice he told me that the other dad couldn’t go. The other dad had a sales trip he didn’t want to miss. If another Dad couldn’t go, we needed to cancel the Philmont trip. Mr. Wilson needed to talk to my dad. They went into the den. Dad came out and went into the kitchen and made a phone call, then he asked my mom to come in the kitchen and they talked. I heard him make another phone call and then he and Mr. Wilson talked.

After Mr. Wilson had said goodbye to my mom and shaken Dad’s hand and walked out to the curb, my dad was standing in the doorway with my mom. They had their arms around each others backs. For no good reason she turned to him and kissed him. Then she wiped her face with her apron and walked toward me. She kissed me and said “You need to help your dad get packed for Philmont.”

We didn’t get that new car that Dad was going to buy with the raise from his promotion that didn’t come for three more years. And Dad quit coming on most of the campouts after we got back from Philmont, because he had to start a second job doing bookkeeping for some small businesses on weekends and evenings. But I remember standing on top of Mount Baldy at Philmont the day before we finished our trek. It felt like the whole world was spread out at our feet. My dad said to me “It was all worth it.” I thought he was referring to the 75 miles we had hiked that last eleven days.

Five years later, after four years of college, two summers on staff at Camp Cherokee, and graduation, I was getting ready to go to Fort Benning for nine months of intensive Infantry Officer Training, Jump School and Ranger and then straight overseas to join my first unit. I had met a girl at college two years ago and we had dated. We dated more and more our senior year. Now I wasn’t going to see her for over a year until I got my first leave to come back to the States. I had to be on a plane at 6:00 a.m. the next morning and she was 175 miles away at her folk’s house. If I left right now and drove straight through, I could be at her house and propose by 9:00 p.m. and be back in time to sleep, shower and catch my plane for Georgia. So I took off.

Two hours and one hundred miles down the road, Still over an hour from her, the car that had seen me through two years of high school and four years of college, finally let me down in a rush of steaming coolant. It was now 8:00 pm on a Sunday night and I was stuck in Podunk, Oklahoma where nothing, not even a gas station, was open. I walked ¼ mile back up the road to a pay phone I had passed and called my dad to ask him to come get me and take me home since it would be too late by the time he got here to go see her and at least I would not be AWOL the first day of my Army career. Instead of saying he would come get me, he asked what was wrong. I said the radiator hose had split and I had no tools to fix it with and no place was open to fix it and to please come get me since I was well on my way to worst day of my life. He asked me “Do you still have that old knife?”

I said, “Well yeah.”

Then he asked me a few more questions about the split hose. He explained to me how I could use the knife to cut the hose at the end where it split. Then I could use the screwdriver on the knife to loosen the clamp and reattach the shortened hose to the radiator. Then I could find ditch water or anything wet to refill the radiator. Then I had to decide to go on or come back.

I’ve been married to that girl for almost forty years now. My dad went on several years ago, but not before he gave a speech at my son’s Eagle Ceremony about all the dumb things I did as a Scout and how proud he was of what my son and I had achieved in Scouting. It was really a corny speech. I should have been embarrassed by his tears except my own tears kept getting in the way.

A few years later, my son got a weeks leave to come back from Iraq. I took him from the airport to the hospital where my dad was going to have surgery the next morning. The two of them, my dad and my son, spent most of the time comparing stories about dumb things I had done as a Scout and as a scout leader. They shook hands when the nurse chased us out. My dad went right to sleep and we never spoke to him again. He had a stroke during the operation and died a few months later on the day my son got back permanently from his first tour in Iraq.

I think back now on all the things I learned in Scouts. The hiking skills I learned from Mr. Neilson, who was the little man with the funny accent who was the Hiking merit badge counselor. I always knew he shoveled snow in front of the church where our troop met. It wasn’t until I was grown that I learned he had fought the Russians in the Winter War in Finland. That was where he lost the toes on his right foot to frostbite. And I learned navigation from Mr. Phillips. I thought he was just a high ranking executive in the company my dad eventually worked for. I didn’t know until later that he had flown 25 missions in B-29’s, including the longest bombing mission of the war. I learned Morse code from Mrs. Fagin. When I read her obituary many years later, I learned that as a nineteen year old girl, she had parachuted into occupied Europe to run a clandestine communications station in preparation for the Normandy Invasion. When we were moving another elderly man who had once taught me how to fish, into a house that would be easier to take care of, I came across the citation for his medal for saving his group of small boats in the Philippines’ from blowing up by driving a burning boat out of the harbor, while under Japanese air attack, and sinking it before the fire set off the ammunition stored in the hold.

And whenever I want to remember that old Kamp King, I just take out this old dented, chipped, stained, pocket knife, and I know it will be sharp until the day I die or until I pass it on to my grandson.

Governor Perry,

Thank you for writing this book. It hits the mark. I am an Eagle Scout and Scouting defined my youth, so your book brought back many memories. It made me reflect on how important Scouting was to me and should be to society. Besides the church and my parents, Scouting is by far what molded me into who I am today. I firmly believe in Scouting's values and what they mean to American society.

In Scouting,
Major James Sparrow, USAF

Hats off Governor for the insightful writing. As a former scout with 3 grandchildren in scouts your efforts were appreciated.

Keep up the good fight..............

Garry & irma Kay Rick
Dallas, TX

Thank you Governor for writing this book! I am so very proud you are my governor. My husband and I raised four sons. I was a cub scout leader for two of them. Your book is so very enlightening, I bought a copy for my sons and am encouraging friends to buy one. We as a state are blessed to have you, please continue in your efforts and know you are in my prayers.
Very sincerely,
Stephanie Socha

Boy Scouts

By Luke Hales


Published April 30, 2008

It wasn’t long ago that Boy Scouts were a common sight across Baytown. It was a rite of passage for many to follow the line from Tiger to Cub to Webelos Scout through elementary school, with the dedicated continuing farther up the ranks. The trademark, distinct uniforms were visible at school, at church, and out doing community service across the city. While their numbers have dwindled throughout the years, recent events have reminded us what the Scouts stand for, and that they are still ready to help where they can.

Jonathan Kaufusi, a Cedar Bayou student and Boy Scout, rescued a woman struggling in the water at Banana Bend Beach in Highlands. His quick actions and quick thinking prevented a potential drowning, and he learned his lifesaving skills at a Boy Scout summer camp two years ago. Scouting has traditionally offered young men training in first aid and emergency response, critical tools for anyone to possess.

John David Wahrlich of Houston recently found another way to serve our community. Through persistence (and numerous telephone calls), Wahrlich raised $3,000 for the Eddie V. Gray Wetlands Center, no small sum for one young man’s work. Wahrlich chose to benefit the site as part of his journey to Eagle Scout because of his childhood appreciation for the Center’s offerings on school field trips. Community service is a key tenet in the Scouting philosophy, and few other youth programs devote as much time and effort to the betterment of society.

Nearly a century ago — on February 8, 1910 — Boy Scouts of America was founded with the goal of providing young men with an educational program designed to build character, foster a sense of citizenship, and develop personal fitness. Since then, it is estimated that more than 100 million have at some point been involved in Scouting in America, not to mention the millions worldwide in international organizations.

By taking part in Scouting, boys pick up traits that television can’t offer. Through merit badges, Scouts are trained in a highly diverse field of knowledge bases, from agriculture and architecture to forestry, genealogy and masonry. More importantly, these lessons are taught in ways that make them accessible and fun. Through extensive outdoor activities and camping, Scouts realize the importance of conservation and wildlife protection. When Scouts leave the program, they do so with a sense of individualism and self-reliance, which benefit them throughout their lives.

The benefits of Scouting are as relevant today as they were 20, 50, or 100 years ago. However, Scouting has lost some of its luster, and many young men see it as a bygone relic, a pastime from their parent’s childhood. There will always be those who doubt the importance of the Boy Scouts of America. Maybe they should talk to Jonathan Kaufusi or John David Wahrlich.

Editorial written by Luke Hales, Boy Scout and city editor of The Baytown Sun, on behalf of the newspaper’s editorial board.

My two sons werein the boy scouts for many years starting in Cubs - I was den mother and asst. den mother. At the present time, one son and his wife are adult leaders and their two sons are both scouts. We believe in the BSA and the values they teach - America needs more organizations that share these values. Thank you Gov. Perry for writing this book and good luck on the sales - I bought one for my son for his birthday, but told him I was going to read it first and try to get it autographed for him.

Thank you for making this book happen. My father, my son and self hold the Eagle Rank. For me, the experience of being a scout leader for my sons provided me the real secrets and power of being a scout.

While I enjoy scouting as young man, the teaching of scouting to this generation brought the values I learned to face the realities of today.

I gave the book to my father of 84 years and an Eagle.

I joined Cub Scouts in a small town in northwestern Pennsylvania in 1948, and have been a registered member since that time sixty years ago. I enjoyed phenomenal experiences as a youth in Scouting including crossing the country by train in 1955 to take an 80 mile backpacking trek in the Philmont Scout Ranch back country wilderness, and serving as Troop Quartermaster at the 1957 Valley Forge National Jamboree. I attained the Eagle Scout award in 1956. The values engrained in me through Scouting's programs and the leadership skills I learned totally shaped me for a most successful life. I served as a member of the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega in college. I began a career as a professional with the Boy Scouts of America in 1961 and during the next forty years attempted to give back to Scouting by devoting my life's work to that of making the precepts of Scouting available to as many boys and youth as I could. I had the good fortune to work alongside thousands of amazing volunteers in Scouting in ten differnet states in America's heartland. As a Council Scout Executive in three different councils for twenty-five years, I saw first hand the negative assaults pointed out by Governor Perry in his book beginning in 1976 through the current time. I am deeply concerned by the continuing attacks by secular humanists to erode the values which makes America the greatest nation in the world. I continue my service in Scouting as a volunteer today because I believe that the Boy Scouts of America remains as part of America's best hope. For certainly we know that the values we teach our youth today will shape our future.
Bob McGinnis, Scout Executive Emeritus

I've just completed reading Governor Perry's excellent book and commend it to everyone who cares about today's youth and America's future. Indeed it is an insightful and comprehensive look at the attack on vital American values over the last thirty-five years. Let's hope that enough Americans read this book and take action in such a positive way that the sunami of secular humanism can be turned before its too late.

ON MY HONOR

I was sitting in the Air Force recruiting station in Chicago trying to convince the Captain who was interviewing me, why I was qualified to become an officer in his branch of the military. Everyone has to have a degree to be an officer so my four years of college was just the same as all the rest of the potential candidates. When I said I was an Eagle Scout that got the Captain’s attention. The US military loves to have former Scouts, both boys and girls join their ranks. I saw a statistical breakdown of the US Air Force Academy class of 2011. Along with all the educational and athletic data, there was a section telling how many cadets were former Scouts and even more importantly how many were Eagle Scouts. There are lots of programs that help children as they grow, but what distinguishes the Boy Scouts is that you are gently forced by the designed program, to learn leadership and responsibility. In this day-and-age, all the members of the soccer teams get a medal at the end of the season. Score is not kept and everyone is a “winner”. But that is not the way real life is. The Boy Scouts is designed to challenge the boy as he progresses in the ranks and yes they can and do fail along the way. The difference is, instead of giving the child the “Happy Meal prize” just for showing up, the Boy Scout is expected to re-learn the difficult task and then demonstrate his new found skill. It is expected if a boy stays in Scouting that he will have to learn to take charge and lead his fellow Scouts. You can spend four years on your varsity high school football team and never lead anyone. So you can see why the military, a leadership driven organization looks so favorable on Eagle Scouts. Governor Rick Perry, of Texas, also an Eagle Scout, has written the book “On My Honor” Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For (www.stroudhall.com) and details his adventures in Scouting and how it impacted his life. Scouting’s goal is to guide boys into being good and productive men in our society. The word mentoring gets used a lot today. The Boy Scouts have been using that approach since its beginning in 1910. Honorable men guiding, teaching and most importantly evaluating boys on their new learned skills. Skills that will make them better and more productive men, in a world that seems to put less value on the positive work and efforts of men at their male role in our society. Even with all the positive points Governor Perry talks about in this book, you quickly (if you did not already know) come to understand that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for the past forty years has and continues to be attacked for its values and standards. BSA has spent millions of dollars defending its policies and programs in court. The ACLU is the self proclaimed enemy of the Boy Scouts. In the 1970s it was girls who wanted to allegedly join and benefit from an all male organization teaching boys how to grow into strong men. Probably more money has been spent by the Boy Scouts to defend its position against the homosexual community, than any other group. However the anti-religious groups are currently attempting to drain the Scouts of money in the courts. The Boy Scouts do not care what your religion or faith is, but they do require you to have a belief in a higher being (ie God). BSA is a private organization and well within its legal rights to establish rules for joining and for the conduct of its members. Homosexuality and a life of no religion, are not standards (or lifestyles) that BSA wants for it’s members. If you are a former Boy Scout, Governor Perry’s book will take you down a wonderful memory lane and all net proceeds from the book go directly to BSA. The Governor talked fondly about his Scoutmaster back in Paint Creek, Texas. I picked up the phone and called my 83 year old Scoutmaster, Reginald Barber of old Troop 66, in Kempsville, VA and thanked him for the profound positive impact he had on my life. There were times when I thought he was too tough on us. But he wasn’t, he just expected us to meet the minimum standards set down by BSA. I can assure you that as a Scout progressed to a new rank in Troop 66 he had earned that promotion, because Mr. Barber made sure of it. There is no doubt in my mind I have and continue to meet the most basic standard of Scouting, “Be Prepared.” Thank you BSA and thank you again Mr. Barber.

2 Apr 2008
Major Van Harl USAF Ret.
vanharl@aol.com

I received your book yesterday for my birthday and read it today...the whole thing, cover to cover. Many memories came flooding in from my experiences from Bobcat to Eagle and the Vigil honor of the OA, from Jr Asst SM to Asst Dist Comm. But the idea that hit home the most was found in the Scout Oath "do my best". That is what my mom required as she encouraged me in life. Not to make 100's, just whatever my best was. That notion has challenged me throughout my 74 years and the results have been great. I did very well in college and business because of that and many of the other values Scouting teaches.

A great book...should be required reading for every American.

Thank you,

Art Hawkinson
502 Sombrero
Horseshoe Bay TX 78657

PS. My son was #1 in line at Borders Books in Houston to have it autographed by you, "A fellow Eagle".

As a young Scout and later as a Cubmaster and as a Troop Commitee Member I was awstruck to watch young boys move into thier teen years with purpose and drive. The BSA and thier programs are time honored and sucessful. The BSA IS UNDER ATTACK and we must preserve it!! I want to thank Gov. Perry for his fortitude and honesty.

I joined the Boy Scouts on my birthday in March 1935 at a troop sponsored by the K of C in Kankakee, Illinois. Achieved Eagle in 1940. Among first to receive Brotherhood in Order of Arrow.

Recruited in US Air Corp in March 1942. Attended Adm School and sent to England in August 1942.. Assigned to IX Troop Carrier Command Allied HQ. As 19 year old Farm boy and Eagle qualified as an Aide to General Paul Willams. With many thanks to being an Eagle achieved going from Pvt to Master Sgt in my first nine months in the service. Eagle Scouts in England meant to much in an Allied Force.

I was privileged to carry his Attache case to many Allied Command conference with General Eisenhauer. Met Eagles who attained major Leadership roles.

Also, attended a number of camp outs at Stillwell Lodge, the home of Lord Baden Powell. It was awesome to experience the unique benefits made possible because of the leadership and mentoring we all receive becoming an Eagle Scout.

Yes, in my 73rd year as an Eagle Scout I am still active addressing Cross Overs and Eagle Ceremonies. As a speaker I tell my story primarily to the Moms and Dads. Show me an excited Mom or Dad and I can asure many will see an Eagle Scout or Gold Acheiver. We were also privileged to pin our oldest son as an Eagle.

I feel that this excellent book needs to available to every family. The Moral Compass we all acquire as Eagles ensures the destiny of our Country. Many thanks Gov. Perry for telling the dramatic Story of Scouting.

Dear Governor Perry,

Thanks for taking the time to write your thoughts on the Scouting program in your recent book. After reading your book, I think you have articulated well what the scouting program stands for and the challenges the program has faced in recent years.

Having received my Eagle Scout award with 5 of my buddies in Sweetwater in 1974, your discussion of Camp Tonkawa made me smile as it brought back my own memories. I think I spent 3 glorious summers at summer camp at Tonkawa, sweating and stinking and having the time of my life. I remember the scorpions in the sink, the mile swim, snipe hunts, and on and on. I remember our OA ordeal, stripped to our underwear and pulling cat tails out of Caterpillar Lake. I hardly think that's allowed now with Youth Protection policies, but it didn't hurt any of us to do it (although I do remember my underwear being permanently stained from the muddy red water. Mom just threw it away instead of trying to bleach it out.)

Now I'm a 50 year old dentist in Mansfield, Committee Chair for my 11 year old son's troop in Arlington, served as his den leader from Tiger Cubs through Webelos. What a treasure it is to work with the boys as we have this small window of opportunity to influence these guys. I'm especially mindful of the boys who have no dads in their lives and the influence we men can have on them, as my Scoutmaster had on me. It's taken being a Scout leader for me to really see and appreciate how much the Scouting program influences my thoughts and actions today. I only hope I can have the impact on my boys that my Scout leaders had on me.

Thanks again for writing the book and dedicating the profits to such a worthy cause. Well done!

Best regards,
Blair Jones

I have found that standing up for what is right and especially defending this Great American Institution is invaluable against all false claims by the unquenchable thirst that is secular humanism promoted by the radical left. My experience in the Boy Scouts left me hungry to serve our nation and supported my thoughout my time at the US Naval Academy and later on to serve as a Naval Officer, proud of my unit and proud to serve the USA. Later on in life, I had the opportunity to be a Cubmaster and later an Assistant Scoutmaster in Antioch, CA's Troop 450. Now my son is an Eagle Scout and is proud to again pass on the legacy of honor and service to his community and nation.
Thanks for writing an inspiring novel which I'm recommending to all our Scouts and leaders.

Keep up the good work!

What an great book, I read the entire book on a flight from Houston home to Baltimore.
The guy in the seat next to me kept looking over (I know he was reading). Finally when I was almost done he said "I hate the ACLU". It is amazing where we have come as a country when the Boy Scouts are the ones being sued. The Boy Scouts helped shape my life and my leadership abilities.
Ray
Eagle Scout 1979
OA
Philmont 1977
National Jamboree 1977
plus lots of fond memories of Boy Scout Troop 123 - Funkstown, MD

Thanks for signing the book for my son, Elliott ( he was on the front row at the Houston signing dressed in Webelo uniform).It was as if you were talking directly to him.

Dear Governor Perry:

I am proud to have you as a fellow Eagle Scout. Thank you for writing this book and letting the public know what former Scouts already know--that the Boy Scouts of America builds men of character who serve as the bedrock of the United States.

My Scouting experience occurred in the St. Louis area and I received my Eagle award in the early 70's. Now as I'm about to turn 50, I look back with fondness on all that I learned and how Scouting prepared me for a meaningful life.

My main life's goal has been to love and nurture my three children, creating adults of strong character for the next generation. This has been accomplished with my wife of 26 years, Diana. Along the way, I've been a Webelos leader, Scout leader, soccer coach, baseball coach, and many other activities some would characterize as mundane. However, I wouldn't trade my life's moments for anyone else's.

Of my three children, one is in medical school, one is studying to be an audiologist, and the other is studying to be a psychologist. Not bad I guess.

It would be my honor to meet you someday. Keep up the good work.

Your Friend in Scouting,
Gary Robinson

At 50 plus years of age, I did not know that the Eagle rank I earned about forty years ago would have been such a character-forming crucible. I am going to give this book to my sons (also Scouts) because the BSA is an institution that should be protected and revered in this nation. How can the virtues of bravery, cheerfulness, reverence, and courage ever ever be anything but EXACTLY what we want to instill in our young men? I applaud the Governor's expose on this shameful situation wherein the Boy Scouts of America are under attack. And they are attacked strictly because they do not submit to the amoral, secular, relativistic Left. If anything, the statistics on America's "lost boys" who are growing up without fathers, without role models, without guidance suggest that the Scouting Program is a life raft in an increasingly stormy sea. Don't leave our boys adrift! Buy this book!

Thank You Governor Perry,

I owe a debt I cannot pay. Can I please buy two autographed books? My son's name is Jared.

Boy Scouting formed me and my family. At age eleven, I was put on a plane a week prior to my family moving from New York to Texas, for my first summer camp with my new Boy Scout troop. My father had loved scouting, seen its value, scouted them out, and signed me up from across the country. Although my dad’s troop dissolved during WWII, all three of his kids and one grandson are Eagles.

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. I was totally terrified of the dark that week 1,000 miles from home. A lightning storm struck the first night and destroyed the water pump. Late each night I had to walk a mile long dirt road through the dark to fill everyone's canteens. I was so scared , I did not change clothes all week. I even slept in my uniform.

Five years later I was the troop's first Eagle but was soon joined by my two younger brothers and eleven other Eagles. Ten were in the largest Eagle Scout ceremony I've ever heard of. Three of us became doctors. I'm a dentist Lt. Colonel in the Air Force. We were blessed with a dedicated scoutmaster, Pete Stankosky of Arlington, Texas.

I'm proud to say, one of my sons is an Eagle, and my other son got 99.9% of it done.

Becoming an Eagle is more selective than making it into Mensa, who will take any person in the top 2% of the population by IQ alone. Eagles similarly represent only the top 2% of the population but from among only those who were ever Boy Scout members. Think about it. One in 50 Americans are worthy of being in Mensa, but only one in 300 Americans are Eagle Scouts. I’m both a “one in a million” and a “one in 50“. Of which do you suppose I’m more proud to be?

Because of Scouting I was able to do Philmont, two Canadian canoe trips, a National Jamboree, O-A Conclaves and many Medical and High Adventure Exploring activities. I have an International Scouting Passport for a Europe trip in 1974. As a Vigil Honor member I've been "Firm bound in brotherhood", and along the way I've become friends with two Eagle Scout astronauts, two dentists for astronauts, and two Canadian Queen Scouts. My youngest daughter is now on her way to earning the Girl Scout's Gold Award; an equally high honor. Pride may goeth before the fall, but with Christ's Holy Spirit in us, righteousness exalteth a nation.

I was a Den Mother for four years, which 3 of those were with my boys. One I did because no other parents wanted the responsibility. But before the year was out 2 parents finally came fourth and took my place. My ex-husband was a Webelos leader for 2 years when my boys advanced up.
It is sad that people have to prey on something that has been around for so many years. What is their problem? Are their lives so miserable that they have to make the rest of us miserable too?
I loved when my boys were in the Scouts, we camped and did so many things and had so much fun.
People need to prey on their own lives and leave others alone.
God Bless Rick Perry, I just wished he had ran for President.
Have a blessed day.
Heather Bolton

Excellent Book!
Gov. Perry,
I met you this Fall when you came to our Headquarters for Rudy in Iowa City, Iowa. I was the county co-chair for Rudy and what a great man. You had our room full of college students fired up and ready to win! I have many pictures, everyone loved your boots!
Our son John is an Eagle Scout and we are very proud parents too!
Could I purchase a signed copy of your book?
How do I do that? I just purchased two copies but will be happy to buy another one. I sat down and read the book right away, it's very good!
Becoming an Eagle Scout is a family project but lifelong lessons are learned.
Thank You for writing the book!
Our son's name is John.
Leah Adams
1020 Teg Drive
Iowa City, Iowa 52246

I received my Eagle Scout in 1984 in Jackson, Ms. After graduating with my Engineering degree and working in various places I finally moved to Texas in 1996 where I live in Lewisville, work as an engineering manager in Dallas and have served as an Assistant Scoutmaster in Irving.

I have loved being a Texan and have been proud to vote for Governor Perry, but I have never been more proud of both Texas and Governor Perry than I am now that he has released "On My Honor".

I did not previously know of Governor Perry's Scouting background and commitment to Scouting principles.

Thank you for your service, Governor Perry!