Recognizing the Centennial Anniversary of Boy Scout Troop 27

Floor Speech

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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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