By John H. Ostdick

BSA Troop 80’s winter Court of Honor Jan. 24 had a special companion ceremony — an Eagle Court that marked an individual and family milestone.

When the Troop honored Highland Park sophomore Daniel Withers for achieving his Eagle rank, it marked a hat trick for a family that has given nine years of service to the Troop, chartered by Highland Park Presbyterian Church.

Daniel joins his two older brothers, Robert, a Highland Park High School and Texas A&M graduate who is studying law at Texas Tech University, and Michael, also an HP grad who is a freshman at Centenary College in Louisiana, as Troop 80 Eagles. Their parents, John Withers Jr. and Mojgan Withers, have been integral parts of the Troop’s adult leadership since Robert joined the organization in 2000.

John was recruited to serve as Scoutmaster at that time; Mojgan has served as Assistant Scoutmaster since 2003. Both have earned Wood Badge beads in Scouting’s most advanced leadership training program. Mojgan was involved with Cub Scouts with all three boys. She helped with some of the administrative matters and served on the Troop Committee until Daniel crossed over to Boy Scouts and joined Troop 80, when she then took over the Troop’s Trail to First Class program, a crucial first step in the advancement process.

“Not all the kids get what Scouting is about, but when they do, it is amazing,” Mojgan explains. “They seem to understand that it is more than just earning your rank — it is about honor and service. Beyond attaining Eagle rank, I am very proud of the fact that my three boys understand what Scouting is about, and they are willing to share their time with others. It might sound like a cliché, but I am proud of the fact that they each have become a ‘Servant Leader.’”

During the Withers’ tenure, Troop 80 has grown from a handful of boys into an active organization that fluctuates annually between forty and sixty Scouts. Twenty Scouts have earned their Eagle rank and the Troop has logged almost 15,000 hours of community service since 2000.

Daniel has been in the thick of that activity, even before he officially joined the Troop. In attaining his Eagle, he earned 52 merit badges (21 are required), participated in all available Scout leadership training, and served in virtually all Troop leadership positions, including Senior Patrol Leader. Daniel considers his National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience, a leadership skills program conducted in the Philmont Backcountry (the Philmont Ranch is a Scouting wilderness in New Mexico), the highlight of his Scouting experience so far, outside of earning Eagle.

“I met people from all over the country, and I had a lot of fun getting to know them over the week.” he says.

For his Eagle project required for the rank advancement, Daniel planned and coordinated the construction of an obstacle course for dogs to be trained on at the Dog & Kitty City, a No Kill animal shelter operated by the Humane Society of Dallas County. More than 188 hours were spent on the project, which included a pause-table, three hurdles, weave poles, and a collapsed tunnel.

Daniel Withers is a “model Scout,” says his father, who offered an emotion-choked Eagle Charge during the Court of Honor. “I was a little embarrassed of my public display of emotion, but I figured that it was good for Daniel to see the depth of my feelings for him, and also for the other Scouts to see the depth of my commitment to Scouting,” John says. “Maybe it will inspire them to become Eagle Scouts.”

Daniel reports he didn’t feel any extra pressure to earn his Eagle rank just because both of his brothers had done so. “I keep Robert, Michael, and me separate in my head, as we're all different people,” he says. “They did serve as inspiration, and since they had already gone through the process they had some advice for me that made it easier to do my write-up and carry out the project. I never really thought of myself as the last, because while I am the last of the Withers brothers to earn his Eagle, I think of myself more as another Eagle Scout in my Troop rather than one of the Eagle Scouts in the Withers family.

“In my Eagle Charge, my father challenged me to give back to Scouting what it has given to me, but I know I'll never accomplish that,” Daniel says. “Whenever I give back to Scouting, I gain from that experience, too. I believe that's how the rest of my family feels, too.”

Robert had belonged to another Troop prior to joining Troop 80, so his parents becoming involved in the Troop didn’t really change how he approached Scouting. “If anything, it ensured that I held myself to a higher standard, especially since my dad insisted that everything be done ‘by the book’,”Robert says today.

His most vivid moments from Scouting involve summer camps, especially earning the rifle merit badge. “I had never fired a rifle before on my own, so being trusted with any sort of firearm was a big deal to me,” he says. “And getting the required grouping was one of my first major Scouting accomplishments, so that moment has really stuck with me.”

He credits Scouting with teaching him many life lessons that he otherwise would have had to learn much later in life with more at stake. “The two biggest qualities I gained from Scouts were effective leadership and self-sufficiency,” Robert says. “Sometimes these lessons came from experiences on what NOT to do, but others came from the patient guidance from older scouts and adult leaders.  I am extremely proud that my brothers earned their Eagles as well, but to be honest, I am not the least bit surprised. Michael and Daniel are outstanding young men with extremely high standards for themselves, so it was not a matter of if, but when.”

Having your father as the Scoutmaster affords some challenges, Michael notes from his Louisiana dorm room. “He held me to the highest standard and pushed me to participate in Scouts in ways that I normally wouldn't have,” he says. “But he was a valuable resource, and always involved. There were times where earning my Eagle wasn't all that important to me, but then I realized that not earning Eagle was just wasting everyone's time. After seeing my older brother go through the process and how proud it made my parents, getting my Eagle became much more important to me.”

John was able to attend a Philmont wilderness trek with Michael. “Although Michael was my only son on the trip, I think Philmont was cathartic for me in regards to Scouting,” John says. “Philmont was a physical and emotional challenge for me, but it put everything we do in Scouting together for me. The Scouting program made sense to me after Philmont.”

Michael values the extensive leadership training he received in Scouting, which he says has been invaluable in and outside of the program. “It taught me what truly makes a leader a good leader,” he says.

During the Troop’s Winter Court of Honor in Highland Park Presbyterian Church’s Wynne Chapel, it acknowledged 45 Merit Badges completions and 13 other rank advancements earned in the past three months. Among other Scouts recognized during the Court of Honor were William Borus, Jackson Bruner, Peter Johnsen, J.P. Kane, and Justin Mueller for earning their Life rank, the last advancement in Scouting before Eagle.

Since the Troop’s last Court of Honor, the Troop also in December welcomed service troops coming through Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and celebrated Christmas with injured veterans at the Dallas Veteran Affairs Hospital in South Dallas.

Such activities are part of what attracted the Withers family to Scouting in the first place.

“We did not join the Scouts so the boys could earn their Eagles; rather we joined because their mother and I recognized the value of the Scouting program,” John says. “Earning their Eagles is just an added bonus. I did not earn my Eagle rank, so it was important to me that they accomplish something I wish I had. Daniel's brothers have already enjoyed the benefits of earning their Eagles.”

John H. Ostdick is a semi-retired assistant Scoutmaster of BSA Troop 80.