BSA teaches common sense to urban youth that would otherwise have no idea. They teach survival skills, leadership and group cooperation dynamics, environmental conservation, respect, honesty & integrity, responsibility, civic duty and understanding of the various levels of government, among a large list of other well-used goal-oriented education subjects. They also do a massive amount of volunteer work for many underpriviledged people, including the elderly and handicapped.
A short list of famous Eagle Scouts:
Bill Alexander - U.S. Representative from Arkansas
Gary L. Ackerman - U.S. Representative from NY
Neil Armstrong - astronaut, first man on moon, from Wapakoneta, OH
Henry Aaron - Baseball player, home run king - the Mobile Press Register quoted Henry as saying that the greatest positive influence in his life was his involvement in scouting
Charles E. Bennett - U.S. Representative from Florida
William Bennett - Former Secretary of Education
Michael Bloomberg - Mayor of New York City, founder of Bloomberg News
Bill Bradley - Pro basketball star and U.S. Senator from NJ
James Brady - Former Press Secretary to President Reagan
Milton A. Caniff - Comic strip artist "Steve Canyon"
Barber B. Conable - President, World Bank
John W. Creighton, Jr. - President & CEO of Weyerhaeuser Company
William E. Dannemeyer - U.S. Representative from Cal.
William Devries - M.D., transplanted first artificial heart
Michael Dukakis - Former governor of Massachusetts
Arthur Eldred - First Eagle Scout
David Farabee - Texas State Representative
Gerald Ford - U.S. President (1st Eagle to be President
Steven Fossett - Tried several times to fly solo around the world in a hot air balloon and finally did it in 2002, won the Chicago to Mackinaw boat races, competed in the Iditarod dog race, and competed in several iron man triathelons, and among other things lives the Scouting mottos both Cub and Boy Scout by doing his best and being prepared
Steven W. Lindsey - Astronaut - He was the pilot for STS-95 when John Glen returned to space as a Senator. He made eagle in troop 161 in Temple City, California.
Gary Locke, Governor of the State of Washington, the first Chinese-American Governor in the contiguous United States, and selected as a Distinguished Eagle Scout by NESA
James Lovell - Navy pilot and astronaut, President of National Eagle Scout Association. Flew on Gemini 7, 12 & Apollo 8, 13 At one time had seen more sunrises than any other human being
Richard Lugar - Senator from Indiana (presidential canidate 1996)
J. Willard Marriott, Jr. - President, Marriott Corp.
CDR William McCool, USN - Astronaut, Pilot of U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia. BSA Press Release | NASA Bio
Sam Nunn - U.S. Senator from Georgia
Ellison Onizuka - Astronaut aboard the U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger
H. Ross Perot - Self-made billionaire and presidential candidate
Rick Perry - Governor, State of Texas
J. J. Pickle - U.S. Representative from Texas, proudly displays his Eagle plaque inside his office
Samuel R. Pierce - Former Sec. Housing & Urban Development
Donald Rumsfeld - Secretary of Defense
Harrison Salisbury - Pulitzer Prize winning author
Jeff Sessions - Junior Senator from Alabama is an Eagle Scout from the troop in Camden, AL.
William Sessions - Former FBI director
Sam Skinner - Secretary of Energy during the Bush administration and now CEO of Commonwealth Edison
Steven Spielberg - Movie producer, from Scottsdale, AZ, made a movie of his troop while getting Photography MB. Helped to design requirements for the cinematography MB.
Wallace Stegner - Writer and college professor, won Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for "Angle of Repose"
Percy Sutton - Attorney, Chairman of the Board of City Broadcasting Corp.
Sam Walton - Founder, Wal-Mart
The list goes on and on.
But, by all means, discredit the entire organization because they do not subscribe to your politically correct worldview.
Hitler Youth Corps? What a bunch of b.s. spoken in true ignorance.
So they don't let a few gays or atheists in their ranks. So what. With groups like NAMBLA roaming around (which is 100% homosexual, by the way), I would prefer keeping young boys away from perverted old men that would prey on them while away on camping trips. But I suppose I'm just "old-fashioned" and cannot seem to brainwash myself into the anything-goes ethos supported by so many "open-minded" folks like yourselves.