Local Boy Scouts visit capital for unique honor

Valley Stream Boy Scout Troop 116 participated in a special ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Oct. 25, where four Scouts laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Each of the 17 Scouts who went on the weekend-long trip wrote an essay about what the wreath-laying ceremony meant to them and why they should be chosen to participate. The troop committee selected four: Life Scouts Kevin Glaittli and Daniel Toy and Star Scouts Ian Burke and James Wheeler.

The boys were accompanied by a member of the U.S. Army’s Tomb Guards as they walked down the steps to the base of the tomb and placed a red, white and blue wreath of flowers there, followed by a salute as a bugler played taps.

The troop was approved to lay a wreath of remembrance at the monument more than a year earlier.

“The troop was extremely humbled and proud to not only honor those heroes ‘known but to God,’ but all of our nation’s veterans,” said Tom McAleer, the troop’s treasurer. “They also did an outstanding job of representing the Boy Scouts of America and Valley Stream.”

Eight troop leaders and more than 40 family members participated in the trip, during which they explored Washington, D.C. and went on a six-mile hike through The Ellipse, a 52-acre park just south of the White House, and the National Mall.