Thursday, October 12, 2000

Scout experience helped soldiers in Bosnia
By Bill Whitaker

The Boy Scouts of America has had its share of controversial headlines lately.

But in the end, it was Scout leadership — particularly the rugged, no-nonsense brand personified by acclaimed Iwo Jima hero Keith Wells — that helped fortify at least two Abilenians during eight months of Texas National Guard peacekeeping duty in gloomy, war-torn Bosnia.

No wonder 1st Lt. Erik L. Wyse wrote both family and Wells regularly during his stay.

In one letter last March, Wyse, 30, informed Wells that, much to his surprise, he discovered he and his battalion commander, Lt. Col. Alex Korzenewski, had both had Wells as a Scout leader at different periods.

Although the two learned plenty about traditional Scouting under Wells years ago, they also learned about steeling one’s self during grueling times, something Wells did as a Marine in World War II while leading his men over the bloody, Japanese-peppered island of Iwo Jima.

“He never covered up the killing, but he also didn’t glorify it,” recalled Korzenewski after returning home last week. “It was instructional to hear that there are tough and brutal things in life — and that good men sometimes have to do tough and brutal things to survive.”

Some historians suggest Wells’ fearless example inspired John Wayne’s hardened Marine in the film, “Sands of Iwo Jima” (1949). Earlier this year, James Bradley’s best-selling book, Flags of Our Fathers, argued that on Iwo Jima “no one surpassed the courage of Lt. Keith Wells.”

“I even read Keith’s own book, Give Me Fifty Marines Not Afraid to Die, while I was over there,” said Korzenewski, 46, who first began Scouting activities under Wells in the late 1960s. “I’m embarrassed to say I’d put off getting the book.

“But Erik and I began talking about it while we were in Bosnia and Keith sent us copies. I was hoping to derive a few lessons from it, such as leading from the front, being in the action with your men.”

That’s one of Wells’ first principles for a fighting leader.

Involved in Scouting since 1953, Wells, 78, has never made any secret of his passion for instilling strong values in boys — and ensuring they have the skills to survive outdoors.

“I believe young boys should travel through the country on foot, backpacking, and if you can start them early, all the better,” the strapping oilman told me. “Scouting has always appealed to me because there are so many things about it that are natural to the development of young people.”

That includes appreciating the simple episodes of gentle humor that come along, such as the time Wells led a group of boys, including Wyse, on a 1987 camping trip in St. Croix — only for a lone island chicken to adopt Wells as a “mother hen.” It followed the former Marine everywhere.

Although Wells drove home lessons of what men must do in times of crisis, he also set an example to follow for his former charges on the homefront — so much so Wyse admitted he was thinking of moving his financial planning practice out of Dallas and back to Abilene.

“Hopefully I can give as much to the community over my life as you have,” Wyse wrote Wells from Bosnia. “I don’t know if I ever expressed to you that you are one of the few mentors I look up to and want to emulate in life.

“Thank you for helping me grow into the man I am and hope to be in the future.”

For veteran Scoutmaster Keith Wells, I’d say it’s a case of “Mission accomplished,” pure and simple.

Contact associate editor Bill Whitaker at 676-6732 or whitakerb@abinews.com. Check out Bill’s previous columns at www.brazosbill.com.