Scouts Raise Special Flag at Village Green

By GREG FROST, Special to the Palisadian-Post On Veterans Day this year, Boy Scouts from Troop 223 in Pacific Palisades and members of American Legion Post 283 dedicated and raised a new American flag over the Village Green in honor of all the veterans who have served our country. The Scouts then presented the old flag to members of Post 283, who disposed of it in a proper fashion. The flag raised has a special significance. This summer, 39 scouts and dads of Troop 223 attended the Danish National Jamboree in Denmark as part of their annual High Adventure trip. Twenty members of that group had toured Europe prior to the Jamboree. As part of that tour, they visited the beaches at Normandy where World War II’s D-Day invasion took place. They also toured the American Cemetery at Normandy where those who lost their lives during the invasion are interred. At the American Cemetery, the scouts, some of whom are members of Squadron 283 (Sons of the American Legion) laid two wreaths on the memorial, one for Troop 223 and one for Legion Post 283, in honor and memory of those who fought to free Europe from Nazi tyranny. The Palisades American Legion had provided the scouts with an American flag to take to the cemetery. They displayed the flag over various parts of the cemetery, including at a promontory overlooking the D-Day beaches. This seemed to mean a great deal to people visiting the cemetery, including a group of British tourists, who asked to photograph the Boy Scouts with the flag. The scouts thought it would be an honor to present that flag to all of the members of Post 283, especially those who served in Europe, and did so in a ceremony at the Legion Hall on October 19. Legion members, in turn, felt it would be appropriate to fly this flag over the Village Green, given its significance. There, it will fly in memory and honor of all the veterans who have served our country. The scouts who took the flag to the American Cemetery in Normandy were Ryan Ashley, Jeremy Byler, Charlie Caldwell, Michael D’Elia, Kevin Frost, Dalton and Tim Gerlach, David Henney Jr., Cameron Lancey, Erick Mack, Alex Ouligian, James Peterson, Stephen Shigamatsu, Tyler Skoro, Michael Soneff and Colin Trewhitt, as well as dads David Henney, George Soneff, Doug Trewhitt and Greg Frost. Scouts taking part in the November 11 ceremony at the Village Green were Alex Frost, Cameron Lancey, Graham Gallaher, Brian Curran, Brian Cheung, Austin Haldeman, Tyler Caldwell, Charlie Caldwell, Ander Sanborn, Grant Stromberg and Thomas Ouligian.