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A basic element in the local civilian effort to help win World War II was by
the Boy Scouts of America. During hours of selfless activity, the Scouts
collected paper, metal, rubber, tinfoil and fats — all crucial to providing arms
and supplies for people in uniform.

Through it all, the Scouts used these war-related deeds to maintain their
goal of teaching leadership to a generation of young men. The highest award a
Scout can earn is Eagle Scout. A story late in the war in our local newspaper
noted: "Seven Greensboro Boys Won Coveted Eagle Scout Award." At a monthly Court
of Honor,

these young men were awarded their Eagle Scout rank: Rankin Owen, Chester
Rose and Allen Chandler, Troop 6; Earl Ray Betts Jr., Troop 11; William M. York
Jr. and Clyde Collins Jr., Troop 27; and David Clodfelter, Troop 78. The Silver
Palm Award went to Barry Farber, Troop 6. Tommy Ward Jr. and David Zauber, both
of Troop 11, received Eagle recognition.

Farber went on to a distinguished career in radio and television broadcasting
and as a public speaker.

Another Scout who achieved fame was noted in this article: "Winning the rank
of Life Scout (was) Jack Matlock, Troop 12." Matlock was appointed ambassador to
the Soviet Union by President Ronald Reagan from 1987 to 1991, during the latter
stages of the Cold War. He worked closely with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev
on arms negotiations and setting up summit meetings. He later was appointed
George F. Kennan Professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton
University.

In researching this column, I came across an article dated March 30, 1945,
headlined: "Alspaugh Twins Combine Business and Books to Excellent Advantage." A
picture of the boys, shown with this column, went on to note, "Honor roll
students, Boy Scouts and ardent hobbyists, yet the Alspaugh twins, Lawrence and
Jimmy, 14, sons of Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Alspaugh, of 2614 Springwood Drive, still
have plenty of time for their Daily News paper route, which nets them over $10
each week." (For younger readers, this old veteran can state definitively that
$10 a week was BIG money back in 1945.)

The article said, "Jimmy, the brunette twin, is a Star Scout and hopes to be
a chemist when he grows up. In school, in the ninth grade at Lindley Junior
high, Jimmy says algebra is his favorite subject. ... But blonde-haired
Lawrence, the quieter of the Alspaugh twins, wants to be a lawyer and attend the
University of North Carolina. … (His) present scholastic average is 91. English
is his favorite subject."

The boys were members of Troop 27, led by legendary Scoutmaster Julius
Hayworth. I looked up Alspaugh in the phone book and located listings for both a
Lawrence and a James, so I called. I talked with James, who said that yes, he
was in the newspaper article. He said Lawrence had become a dentist but had
passed on some two years ago. James had practiced law and is now 78 and in good
health.

The newspaper article noted that there was another Alspaugh son, Tommy, who
was at that time in NROTC at the University of Virginia. As Scouts grew up, many
of them became eligible for armed service and discovered their Scout training
invaluable preparation for the military.

A 1944 newspaper article had the headline "Soldiers Testify to Value of
Training As Boy Scouts." The article noted, "For 25 years the local Boy Scout
council has been training boys to assume responsible positions in society. Today
their responsibility is to the military front and to the home front. Spontaneous
letters from them and informal chats with Scouts now in government uniforms
reveal the role of Scouting in preparing men for the fighting ranks."

The article mentioned some local former Scouts, now in the military:
"Corporal Johnny Post, stationed at Buckley Field, Col., writes that he had
little trouble adjusting himself to the ways of the Army," noting

that Army life is like the Scouts, only carried to the extreme. Example by
Cpl. Post: "I've been on K.P. for the last two days, 16 hours a shift. … I can
remember griping over two hours K.P. at Scout camp. Boy, what a laugh."

"2nd. Lt. George H. Underwood at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., (helped) a 2½
ton truck to cross a river."

Some ropes his unit was using to help pull the truck were not long enough,
but this former Scout knew "how to splice ropes together and how to tie a timber
hitch" to make the ropes they had work out "mighty handy." The truck got across.

Here is a listing of Troop 27 Scouts who entered military service about
1944.

(If any readers were Scouts and then wore the uniform, please write, and I
will include your names in a future column.)

Ralph Oehman, assistant Scoutmaster, deceased; Tommy Alspaugh, senior patrol
leader; Bill Anderson, junior assistant Scoutmaster; Earl Armstrong, assistant
Scoutmaster; Sanford Bennett; Marvin Borum; Joe Coleman; Sonny Creveston; Allen
Dixon, scribe; Don Everett, senior patrol leader; Elwood Gladwell; Tommy
Hayworth, junior assistant Scoutmaster; H.B. Hester, senior patrol leader; Lee
Howerton, patrol leader; Earl Hudgins; Fred Johnson; Hal Johnson; Wilson
Mitchell Jr., patrol leader; Harold Moag; Roy Moffitt, junior assistant
Scoutmaster; Lawrence Noah; Allen Osborne; Wade Phillips, assistant scoutmaster;
Donald Poole; Sam Post; George Potts; Homer Rogers, patrol leader; Richard
Ryder; Sam Ryder, junior assistant Scoutmaster; Wiley Sholar Jr.; Francis
Stallings; Richard Underwood; and Clarence Wagner.

Our Boy Scouts : What a national asset in peace and in war!