[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E107]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNIZING THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF BOY SCOUT TROOP 27

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                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 8, 2023

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Boy 
Scout Troop 27 in Fort Benning, Georgia on the occasion of their 
centennial celebration. Chartered in January of 1923, Troop 27 is the 
oldest Boy Scout troop in the Chattahoochee Council and the second 
oldest in the state of Georgia. They will celebrate 100 years of 
scouting at their centennial banquet on February 8, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. 
at Fort Benning.
  Chartered on January 2, 1923, Troop 27 began as a group of 14 boys 
who conducted their meetings in a dugout on the side of a hill. The 
Troop was very active, and in addition to working on merit badges, they 
also volunteered around post selling tickets for the Infantry School 
Glee Club's winter concert and serving as ushers at the Georgia-Alabama 
game and at the Post Christmas tree celebration.
  Over the last century, Troop 27 has produced outstanding leaders who 
went on to fight for our country during wartime. In January of 1925, 
Troop 27 awarded its first Eagle Scout rank to Charles ``Tick'' 
Bonesteel III, who would later go on to graduate from the U.S. Military 
Academy, serve in the U.S. Army during World War II and the Korean War, 
eventually reaching the rank of four-star General. Three more Scouts in 
Troop 27 would go on to earn the rank of Eagle in 1925, including 
Joseph ``Cider Joe'' Stillwell, Jr. who trained as a Green Beret and 
served during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
  Truly, service to each other drives the engine that creates a better 
community, and world, and Boy Scout Troop 27 has a storied legacy of 
community service in the Chattahoochee Valley. Over the last 100 years, 
the Troop has produced over 200 Eagle Scouts who have collectively 
completed thousands of community service hours in support of the 
greater Columbus community. They collected more than 10 tons of scrap 
metal around Columbus, Georgia to be repurposed for the war effort 
during World War II. In the 1960's the Troop continued to serve by 
manning a holiday roadside rest area, providing refreshments, litter 
bags, road maps and safety pamphlets to weary travelers. In 1976, Troop 
27 hosted the ``Slide for Life'' at the annual Scout-O-Rama, which was 
attended by thousands of scouts and Governor Jimmy Carter, who would be 
elected our Nation's 39th President in November of that year. During 
the 1990s, Troop 27 conducted numerous service projects, such as 
collecting food for the hungry, planting trees, collecting clothing for 
the Salvation Army, and bringing more than 200 dogs to the veterinarian 
for rabies vaccinations. And last December, the Troop volunteered for 
National Wreaths Across America, placing hundreds of holiday wreaths at 
the headstones of veterans at Fort Benning Main Post Cemetery. And I am 
proud to say that this year, Troop 27 will honor two more Scouts with 
the Eagle Scout rank.
  Scouting has shaped my life and the lives of millions of youth across 
America by instilling foundational principles of moral character, self 
reliance, responsibility, leadership, human dignity and service to 
others. As an Eagle Scout, it brings me great pride to see Troop 27 
representing the Boy Scouts of America with such dedication to the 
values we hold so dear.
  For 100 years, the boys and men of Boy Scout Troop 27 have gathered 
and declared: ``On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and 
my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all 
times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally 
straight.'' It is my sincere hope that Troop 27 Scouts will continue to 
do so for 100 more.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to 
join my wife, Vivian, and me; and the more than 765,000 people of 
Georgia's Second District in recognizing Boy Scout Troop 27 of Fort 
Benning, Georgia for their dedication to scouting and outstanding 
service to others for over 100 years.

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