Prayers for the Scouts
That terrible tornado at a Boy Scout camp in Iowa took four vibrant, young lives. The Scouts killed in the disaster were Aaron Eilerts, 14 from Eagle Grove, Iowa; Josh Fennen, 13, Sam Thomsen, 13, and Ben Petrzilka, 13, all from Omaha. Hometown profiles here.
Keep these boys and their families in your prayers:
Sam was the light in the room, in every room. He was the joy,” said Franklin Wood, the church’s youth minister. “He always kinda had this mischievous smile and he would come up behind you and tap you on the shoulder and you knew it was Sam.”
His birthday would have been Monday.
…
Aaron Eilerts was a young Renaissance man.
The 14-year-old sang, played the flute, ran track, played football, cooked and loved to sew.
Whenever a teacher at Robert Blue Middle School in Eagle Grove, Iowa, had a baby, she knew she would get a handmade blanket from Eilerts. He also sewed colorful pillow cases to send to hospitals and made fleece blankets for dogs at an animal shelter.
“He had endless talents,” said Dawn Sievertsen, the school’s principal. “His way of having fun was to do good things for people. He embodied everything scouting was.”
…
Like his father, Fennen loved trains and was welding a model that was big enough for him to ride in.
“He was one of the smartest and talented kids I’ve met,” Rothgeb said. “We just wish he would have been here awhile longer.”
…
Nearly all of Ben Petrzilka’s young life revolved around Mary Our Queen Church in Omaha.
The 14-year-old attended services with his parents and younger brother there. He went to the affiliated Catholic school since kindergarten. And it was also where Boy Scout Troop 448 held its meetings.
“He loved being in the Scouts. He was very proud of his involvement,” said Kayleen Wallace, the school’s principal. “We would have special days where you didn’t have to wear your uniform. Ben always wanted to be wearing that Scout uniform.”
Full multimedia coverage at Omaha.com.
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Somewhere Dan Beard is weeping
God rest your souls.
Absolutely heartbreaking. Thoughts and prayers are with their families. God Bless.
Terrible..God bless them all.
God Bless
So, so sad.
Heartbreaking.
Rest in peace.
as an eagle scout, it’s tragic to see so much potential cut down at such a young age. The spirit of the eagle will be with them.
May God the Father Almighty rest their Souls and Comfort their families.
God Bless those scouts who went right into action helping their injured fellow scouts. And prayers to the families of those that lost loved ones.
Those sweet little boys.
This is so tragic.
They were the best prepared they could be. Smart, young boys with enthusiasm for life. God bless them…….and to think that there are others out there that try to minimize/destroy this great institution of fine young men. My prayers to all.
Be Prepared - The Scouting Motto.
Courage is performing your duty when you are frightened and under stress. These young men are remarkable! Their courage and character give me hope!
My prayers go out to the families that lost their sons in this tragedy.
Wow. RIP.
As an Eagle Scout(1980) I too offer my condolensces
These young men (yes, men, not boys), remind me of what I so greatly appreciate about my Scouting experience. I cannot tell you how much I learned about manhood during my journey from Tenderfoot to Eagle. These young men exemplified the values of loyalty to one another, helpfulness in their aid to others, obedience to the directions of their leaders, and bravery in the face of adversity.
Through these four, maybe more folks will see the potential value added to their sons’ lives through Scouting.
Prayers and praise for their heroics trying to save others.
In a time when many youths call athletes heroes, here are America’s future.
God bless them and their families.
And the ACLU will be moving to help the families in 100000000,99999999,99999998,99999997….Ah why count, Never.
God bless them and their families and communities.
What a terrible tragedy. God rest their souls and bless their families.
My prayers are with these families.
My son is 13……this is so heartbreaking to read. My heart goes out to these families. I know they had so many plans and dreams for their sons.
God be with them all as I know He will.
Tears are in my eyes.
My heart cries for the families of these young men.
As another Eagle Scout (class of 85), I know Baden-Powell and Seton would be proud of these young men lost. The training and dedication of their friends proved invaluable. Thank you to the men and women who’ve influenced them. And Send_Me, I couldn’t have said it any better than you did. I wonder how far along the trail to Eagle these four were…
God bless these boys. They’ve earned their badges and their wings for sure.
(made it as far as Star rank, then I turned 18 in 1991)
my heart goes out to those families…
from the ABC site..
It’s so sad when children pass on before their parents, especially at such a young age.
Who knew where their futures lay and what they could have accomplished.
My heart and prayers go out to these kids’ families.
A terrible loss! They had so much living to do. I hope that their families will eventually find peace.
My two sons are in cub scouts. My eldest will be going to Webelos camp here in a couple of weeks. I just cannot imagine the horror of sending my son off to camp and not seeing him again.
May God bless those boys and their families! How tragic.
Since the BSA has such a positive effect on shaping young men into responsible, patriotic men, I always considered myself a Boy Scout and so has my adult son (kind of like Marines are always Marines).
With a tear in our eye, we both give our fallen brothers the Boy Scout Salute and pray that our Lord comforts their families and heals those who were injured.
Clarification: We were both Scouts. I meant that even though we’re not currently involved in the BSA, we’re Scouts at heart.
Our prayers go out to the families…. God bless these fine boys….
An absolute tragedy. My heart goes out to these boys and their families.
The sick part of this is, the “blame global warming” chorus will begin in 3,2,1….
What a sad tragedy.
I’m originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa and it just boggles my mind to see what my home state is going through with all of the tornados and flooding of the past few weeks. I wish I was back there so I could help out somehow.
I grew up in Scouting, and then went on to be an asst. scoutmaster. May the Lord receive their spirits and give them peace. My prayers today are with the families. When young children die, it is always a tragedy that is hard to accept.
As the details of this tragedy come out, there are sure to be accounts of valor, bravery and heroism.
But mark my words, folks: Bill Maher will make fun of the death of Boy Scouts by an “Act of God” at his first opportunity.
Lord, May you keep and comfort their families. And may they rest assured that these four young men are safe in your bosom. RIP Erin, Josh, Sam and Ben.
As a proud parent of a soon to be Life Scout and a merit badge leader my heart goes out to the families, friends and fellow scouts of these boys.
I teach Ready Man and the first aid merit badge and it is something that the boys really get into. I have seen my boys jump to help with any first aid situation no matter what size.
The leader that taught those heroes should be proud of what they did. Those boys jumped to the rescue of their fellow scouts as soon as the tornado passed. These are the young men that others should look up to.
America has lost 4 promising young men for reasons only know to God, our prayers and condolences to the families and friends.
This was an absolutely horrific tragedy. Aaron, Josh, Sam and Ben look to have been fine young men, the type that most would surely like their sons to aspire to be in life.
I am confident these young men are in a better place. RIP young gentlemen.
I pray for God to help the families find peace with their terrible loss.
I am sorry to hear about these young men. But let’s pray for comfort for those left behind who are grieving. The dead are being comforted as we speak.
I’ve seen in news stories how the scouts stepped up and performed heroically. These are our future leaders. The nation needs more young men like these.
God bless and comfort the families and the survivors of this horrible tragedy.
I remember being at the National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Va. in 1980 when a line of thunderstorms the likes of which I had never seen before came rumbling through. Our laughing, joking conversations came to an abrupt stop as we secured the site then dove for our tents (to hold them down). Thankfully no one was injured but it gives me a chill reading this story and thinking how easily things could have gone wrong.
I never made Eagle myself (Life) and it’s been one of my few regrets.
God rest their souls and comfort their families.
Rondogg (#31), keep politics out of this.
Weep and pray for the lost, but be proud of the other young heros in training. They didn’t wait for someone to help them, they did it themselves. It’s more than many adults can do.
rondogg-
It’s begun…there’s a link on Drudge:
It links to Center for American Progress Action Fund. If I recall, they’re as concerned with American Progress as the ACLU is with Civil Liberties.
God Bless all these boys. The Girl Scouts used to be as good an organization, but they didn’t stand strong on keeping God in the promise.
Our prayers for their families. May these boys rest in Jesus’ arms.
Global warming, eh? These fine lads were struck down in the kind of terrible accident the risk of which never be eliminated. Its a great loss, but it seems that these boys did more good in their short lives than many Americans do in a full ‘three score and ten’.
The scouts that survived the tornado comported themselves like troopers. Scouting made them strong; its up to us to keep Scouting strong. Kids like these are the hope of America.
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.
#41
Trust me, I would never trivialize something as tragic as this by bringing politics into it. I was only pointing out those that would and in doing so, I was just as guilty. I apologize to anyone I may have offended.
May God bless and receive these young souls into His loving embrace. May the peace of Christ soothe the broken hearts of their families, friends, and communities.
In today’s world the Scouts take a lot of flack for what people consider to be religious and/or homophobic attitudes. But I know if something went wrong around me I’d much rather have a Boy Scout around than a typical teenager.
I feel bad for the children and their families. This really drives it home to hug your kids and really spend all the time you can with them.
May the afterlife receive these children kindly.
My prayers go out to the families of these young men.
Ditto. I was a Scout and I know it helped shape the MAN I am today.
Add for great warriors to the heavenly realm. Peace to the families.
…four… ugh
God Bless, these four young men, their families and those who survived this tramatic event.
I remember when three tornados 1 f5 and a couple of f3s hit the city I live in 5 years ago, I watched the f5 go over houses, 3 doors down from mine tearing shingle from the roofs. (yes I should have been in the basement) then it dropped down in the neighborhood across the street from mine, and the debris in the air was incredible it then proceeded to cut a path 5 miles long. Thank God no one was killed. I remember a 9 year old at church, his house had been demolished, he said “I asked God to make it stop, I was really scared and it just stopped.” I told him you know that God heard your prayer, you witnessed one of Gods miracles and it was because of your prayer, he said “Thank You God”. I say it was a miracle because his house was at the end of the devistation the tornado went back up and disappeared into the clouds. It saddens me that more people don’t recognize God’s miracles. My city got hit again in May this year it was caused by edys at the end of straight line winds, no sirens, no warnings or anything the NWS did’nt see them on radar, It turned out it was a couple of f2 tornados. I think this is the scariest weather phenomenan, My daughter five years ago then 10 witnessed the devistation, it litterally looks as if a bomb was dropped, she is terrified when we have a tornado watch because she remembers what she had seen, you don’t know where they will touch down and if your in their path your belongings and possibly you will be scattered for miles. We had more tornado watchs last night. The Midwest has experienced over 1500 tornados this year, not good we have the whole summer to go.
The loss of a child is unbearable; my prayers and sympathies to the families and the friends of those fine young men.
I always wonder when innocents are killed: does God give us this Earth, and then just roll it out and let things happen at random? Otherwise, how to explain such random and terrible tragedies as this? I find it hard to believe that God “lets” this stuff happen.
RIP.
Revelation 12; 7:12
7And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
Those poor boys and their families.
This is just so sad and tragic.
What a tragedy, may these fine young men rest in peace, may peace find their families and comfort their loss.
Please support a Scout Troop near you. If you don’t have the time, open your wallet and buy their popcorn. This nation needs more of these young men.
Man, what a tragedy.
So very, very sorry. How unfair life is. These four beautiful young promising lives gone forever.
There’s a special star in the sky for each of them tonight and always.