Young Heroes: Remembering the Boy Scouts of America

By Martin Howard

Keith and Joe, military veterans, survived a murder attempt from an old friend. The two men, who grew up in scouting, try their hand with a new generation of young men to teach survival skills. Power struggles lie in the presidency of the United States. Murder lies in wait for the current president. Joe’s sons, now helicopter pilots in the military, learn facts and join in the battle. The boys deal with school demands, athletics, girls, foes and scouts. With saving actions of Ethan, they receive protective help from great Indian spirits of the past. It comes down to the scouts. Can they save the captured scoutmasters and the president of the United States? They have limited experience, they are outgunned, outmanned, but the battlefield being their own backyard in small town Montana. An unlikely group, with the element of surprise, can they pull the impossible without loss of life? It is time to grow up.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Feb 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781528926232

Martin Howard

Martin Howard has been involved in the boy scouts for over twenty years. He has held many different positions, travelled many places, and enjoyed the people that have been involved.

Book preview

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About the Author

Martin Howard has been involved in the boy scouts for over twenty years. He has held many different positions, travelled many places, and enjoyed the people that have been involved.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all the moral, hardworking people who love the outdoors and who invest time and resources with the next generation of young men.

Copyright Information ©

Martin Howard (2021)

The right of Martin Howard to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528922289 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528926232 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2021)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Acknowledgement

I acknowledge all the men and boys I learnt from,

THANK YOU!

Introduction

As of the year 2019, The Boy Scouts of America has changed to Scouts.

On my honour 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.

This book is dedicated to all the fine moral adults and young men that have built the Boy Scout of America Organisation from hard work, fun, teamwork, service, dedication, community involvement, and numerous other qualities throughout the decades. We recognise Lord Robert Baden Powell, William Boyce and all the other pioneers for having the courage to do what they did.

Chapter 1

There is a team of United States Soldiers travelling across the desert in the Middle East. They have a title or label known as Convoy 7. Two vehicles with thirteen men are on a routine mission towards an outlying area. It is late afternoon and the sun, with all its golden hues of colour, is bearing down in the heat of the day. The group is hot, tired, fatigued, and thirsty. They have nothing to report for what seems like a wasted day.

The commander, James Christiansen, is leading the crew. They have travelled several hours on a bumpy dusty road in search of possible insurgents of the underground terrorist network. There have been many days with no sign of any opposition. The soldiers were silent. If they were going to follow the company routine, it was almost time to head back to the camp.

Up ahead, there is a foreign jeep coming towards them. It is travelling at a moderate speed. The jeep halts in the middle of the road. Something doesn’t seem right. There are two men up front in the jeep with a tarp covering what look like supplies in the back. The driver, of the jeep, gives a gentle wave, giving an impression that everything is alright. The military convoy slows to a stop and the soldiers stay put. One of the soldiers, Todd Mcleary, yells out, I will go check them out. There is hesitancy and surprise among the US Military men. James is surprised about Todd’s actions.

Joe Campbell and Keith Reid hop out the back of the second truck. They look ahead and watch the events going on. The other soldiers soon follow suit and start exiting the vehicles.

Up ahead, the passenger steps out of the jeep. Todd goes to the side of the jeep where the driver is at.

Keith sees what is going on and yells, Lookout!!! He grabs his phone and takes multiple pictures of what is going on in front of them. Keith pushes a fellow soldier to the ground and runs to the back. He sees Joe and shoves him to the ground. Joe is put back for what he did. There are yells from the two guys he pushed to the floor. He takes cover for himself and places his arms over his head underneath the vehicle.

From the jeep the two men pull the tarp over. Underneath, there are two people with a weapon launching device. They fire a shell at the lead truck and it explodes, ‘BOOM’, and then they fire a shell at the second truck and it explodes, ‘BOOM’. There is dust everywhere. The destruction took only seconds. There are little remains of what once were two soldier transporting vehicles.

The men, from the jeep, walked around the carnage they created. They looked at each victim and laughed. They savoured the wounds they inflicted as each soldier slowly dies.

Todd told the rest, There is still one thing I have yet to do. He takes a long razor sharp knife from its sheath and goes up to Captain James Christiansen who is unconscious, and stabs him in the side of his chest. While doing this dastardly deed, he curses his name and shouts that is the revenge that you long deserved. They clean their pockets of all visible wealth, jewellery, billfolds, knives, guns, ammo and whatever they could carry and load in the jeep. They looked back at their victims, smiled, and then sped off in the distance.

Early the next morning, Joe Campbell awoke to find a terrible mess. He felt lightheaded with shrapnel wounds at different places on his torso. All around him was debris from the explosions. After collecting his thoughts, he realised what happened. He stood up and began looking for survivors. He noticed his old hunting partner, fellow soldier Keith Reid, lying there.

He looked for signs of breathing in Keith Reid. He shook him to see if he was conscious. He examined him to see if there were any injuries or blood stains. He was breathing and had no apparent life threatening serious injuries. He checked the other soldiers only to find there weren’t any left alive. He found the remains of a first aid kit and went to work on Keith.

Joe began speaking to Keith, hoping that something he would say might trigger him coming back to conscious state.

Sure Keith you’re the first aid guy and I am the one fixing you up, what’s up with that?

You know that your home-made stew is just bad, just plain bad. Starving is a better alternative.

Yes you throw knives, like an infant. Did you hear that? A child could at least hit the target better than you.

When you shoot a gun, you’re lucky to hit a barn a hundred feet away and that’s when you have a thirty-ought-six gun with a high powered scope in your hand.

After numerous attempts, Joe said, This isn’t working like I wanted it to. I am sure enjoying ribbing an old friend though.

Oh yes, that mutt you call a hunting dog. That worthless, lost, howling, whining, flee bitten, tick infested dog.

All of a sudden, there came words out of Keith’s mouth. Don’t even go there, that is the best dog you will ever find! Man’s best friend and don’t you forget it.

Joe smiled, glad you’re alive, I think. You and I are the only ones left breathing from our unit. We were bushwhacked.

Keith leaned forward very slowly, moaning the whole time. Joe it was Todd, he was in on it the whole time. He might have even planned the hit. There were at least three others involved. They examined each body carefully. There is a knife between James ribs that occurred after the blast by the way his shirt was torn. They took a closer look at the knife and noticed Todd’s initials on it.

Joe, somewhat surprised, never would have thought it from him. You and I have a long way to go before the day is done. Let’s find what we can and get on our way.

What did you say about my stew and starving to death?

Good luck with that. I took some pictures, and maybe with today’s technology we can enlarge them to find more evidence. The phone part is not working, I hope the camera does. On the long way back, they decided to describe the events with simple explanations. They felt there were many different groups that could be involved and they weren’t sure who they could trust.

The two soldiers arrived back at camp early the following morning, totally exhausted and famished to the bone. To their surprise, they were heavily interrogated. It wasn’t long before the reality set in that they were being accused of the deadly crime. The powers that be, questioned each separately to check for any discrepancies in the events. They were placed in detention. Keith and Joe looked at each other in dismay.

Dr Raymond Stommel arrived at the room where his comrades were being kept. Hello, Keith, Joe, it is good to see you again. Raymond examined them carefully. He took body fluid samples and checked them out physically. Believe it or not you two are still alive. The nine lives of the Montana boys. You both should have died twice. The first would have been the blast. The second would have been the dehydration and the hike back here. That is not even including Keith’s stew. That gives you seven lives each left and don’t waste them. The people around here are acting strangely unusual about this situation. I will keep my ears and eyes open and give you any details as they come to me. Doctors have a way of finding out things without much suspicion. Only say as little as possible and keep your noses clean. I have to go for now. Drink lots, your bodies need recovery, and get some rest.

Joe remarked, I thought the enemy was out there. They were fed and strongly ordered to stay at their bunks until everything was wrapped up. There was a sentry sent to watch them twenty-four seven. Being so exhausted, it was a good time to catch up on rest.

Keith spoke out so everyone could hear, If this isn’t prison, I don’t know what is. The people who were murdered yesterday have been our bread and butter allies for the last six months.

Keith pulled out his phone and examined the pictures he took at the time of the blast. The jeep that their foes were driving had a crack, in the driver’s side front headlight. He then noticed a bend in the front bumper on the passenger side. The vehicle was definitely Foreign made and part of the opposing fleet. He conveyed the information to Joe and they discussed where the jeep might have come from. There were several possibilities, several hundred miles away.

After a week being confined to what seemed like solitary confinement, Joe and Keith were brought into an enclosed room. They were seated by a friend of theirs, Jack Tate. A wink of an eye and a tip of the hat meant that everything was OK, Jack leaves the room. In walks Warren Davis, not considered a friend, sits down, looks them in the eye without speaking. He looks at some paperwork intensely.

He says, One minute, gentlemen, I will be right back. He stands up and leaves the room.

Joe quickly pulls out his phone with a cracked glass. He takes pictures of the documents. He places the phone in his pocket and sits down as quickly as humanly possible. He knows the consequences if he was caught. His heart rate went up, and then he took a big breath. Warren returns to the room.

Gentlemen, with glaring eyes, The stories you gave turned out to match the information of the crime scene. As of 0500 hours, operations will be back to normal. You both will be reassigned to Division Seventeen. Thank you, you are both dismissed.

Once returning to their tent, Joe takes out his phone. He looks over everything with a fine-tuned comb. He sees something and with his fingers he enlarges the image. Exasperated, he looks directly at Keith.

On the edge of his seat, Keith sternly asks, What is it?

There is a list of people who were killed. Todd Mcleary is listed as dead. We know what he did and he is very much alive. Someone, or multiple people, has manipulated the documents. Someone in the leadership ranks is a murderer just as much as Todd. We better keep silent with what we know, or neither one of us will wake up one unsuspecting morning. Do you want to know about the worst possible outcome?

What?

If I died, I can’t complain about your stew any longer.

Keith picks up a pillow and thrusts it directly at Joe, hitting him squarely in the face.

The following day, the two were out with their new team. They travelled many miles without any action; it was like it was planned that way. With all the events that transpired the last few days, Keith and Joe were on the lookout for any clue to find out the truth, and they were suspicious of everyone and everything. Ron Swain, their new leader, out away from their camp sixty miles or so, gathered the men together and announced a change of plans.

Fellow troops, asked Ron, we have to make a change in our plan. We have achieved no results so far so what do we say about going down town of the closest city? There is always a chance of risk, but let’s do it anyway.

Almost in unison, the group agreed. Spirits were up and excitement was stirred. The team tallied forth. They travelled in a weave pattern down several streets. The villagers were about their daily routines. There weren’t any unusual actions.

They pulled up to a government building. The commander, Ron, shouted out to search the area. Team up in groups of two or three and keep your eyes out for anything unusual. Report back here in thirty minutes, and don’t be late!

They all headed in different directions. Joe and Keith headed a block away down an ally. Nothing seemed out of place. They walked three or four blocks before noticing a vehicle covered with a tarp in the backyard of a building. With guns raised in the air, walking slowly, they noticed the vehicle was a jeep. Keith raised the tarp and both men were shocked. The driver’s side headlight was cracked and there was a bend in the bumper.

The twosome walked inside the building to gather facts. The building was deserted with dried blood on the centre of the floor. They searched the area. Joe carefully measured out the rooms dimensions. He carefully looked out the windows. He took samples of the blood found in two places. He looked for clues on what might have happened in the building. They looked at each other with puzzlement. They hurried back to make the time constraint. Their resolve was to figure out the enemy’s plan before revealing it to the world.

Keith remarked, Ok Sherlock Holmes, Mr Attention to detail! The clock is ticking.

The team arrived back at base camp with no news. Joe went immediately to their doctor ally, Raymond Stommel.

Raymond Stommel is an interesting sort. He is tall with wavy dark brown hair. He let the military pay for his schooling. He is not known for wanting to be king or seeking a dominating influence. He is an avid outdoor enthusiast. He likes hiking and interesting gadgets that do strange things out of the norm.

Raymond, Keith and I were out on patrol and found some things. Would you take these samples of dried blood and have a DNA test done? We need to keep this under wraps until we find the truth.

Raymond agreed, Give me a few days and we will talk again.

That night Joe went sleepless in an effort to figure out what happened. While Keith and crew were asleep, Joe re-enacted the events that would match the evidence they found in the deserted building.

At morning light, 5:00 AM, Keith was awake. He looked over at Joe with surprise. He looked beat up. There was no smile on his face. His body was draped over a chair. He has bags under his eyes. Finally Keith asked, OK Sherlock what is the answer?

Joe hesitated, A man killed another man. The act happened in the AM. The murderer left with a limp with his left leg.

What? That is a decisive answer.

The two stared at each other for a while in silence.

They joined the other men and went to breakfast.

Later the following day, there was a meeting with all military personnel in the area. They were all in official dress. The commander Albert Danson gave a speech explaining that all information must be reported to his office before letting the whole world know. He explained it is a protocol mandated from now on. Albert was leaning on a cane. The cane was in his left hand.

Joe and Keith looked at each other knowing that this guy speaking was involved.

SEVERAL YEARS LATER

Chapter 2

Somewhere in Southwest Montana, an hour or two away from Yellowstone Park, there is a Boy Scout District activity that happens annually, going on with several troops from different small towns, gathered in one area.

Leaving the main body, walking away, Bryson tells Ethan, We have a chance to win this game. We need to slingshot the new kid, Mark, as far away as we can. We have the pride of the district; we have been in the top three for years.

Ethan responds, He looks pretty athletic, he might be a big help.

Bryson declares, Despite the blonde hair, blue eyes, and the out of town attitude, he is new and has no clue how to play our game. We have played this game for years. Our team strategy will put us over the edge this year, and we don’t want an outsider to ruin our probable win. We are older and more experienced. Don’t blow this, place him in left field and we will take the game down the corridor.

You’re right Bryson, I want to win as bad as you do.

The scouts from neighbouring towns gather annually to play a game that is a