Bush gives pep talk to disaster-hit Scout jamboree
01 Aug 2005
Reuters
The president twice postponed his visit to the Scout gathering, which at times had the air of a U.S. Army recruitment drive.
Men in black “Army” T-shirts coached young boys to chant “OO-rah” like soldiers. A giant “ARMY” hot-air balloon bobbed overhead.
Bush said the Boy Scouts “understand that freedom must be defended,” and touted what he called the “armies of liberation.” The Army has fallen behind its recruiting goals amid the Iraq war.
“When you follow your conscience and the ideals you’ve sworn as a Scout, there is no limit to what you can achieve for our country,” Bush told the crowd, which chanted “USA, USA.”
The National Boy Scout Jamboree turned tragic last Monday when four adult Scout leaders were killed while pitching a huge dining tent on the grounds of the U.S. Army’s Fort A.P. Hill, south of Washington.
Christopher Deliso excerpts The Christian Post:
Touching on a lighter note, Bush told attendees that he was a former Cub Scout from Texas; the first man he sees every morning – chief of staff Andy Card – is a former Scout from Massachusetts; Vice President Dick Cheney was a Boy Scout in Wyoming; Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was an Eagle Scout in Illinois; and his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, was the den mother of his Scouting troop.
And the only one to ever wear combat boots was Barbara.