Impact Of Boy Scouts

During World War 2 there is a large group of unsung hero 's that are still around today, these unsung hero 's are known as The Boy Scouts of America. The boy scouts at that time were a group of some 1,600,000 kids who would help with their community doing different things that would help the community. But during the World War 2 era they served as helpers for the war. They were working for the federal government and the Office of War Information. They would help by distributing posters around town to help keep the public informed and it proved to be a very smart decision. Although it had a positive impact they also faced struggles. The Boy Scouts could be considered to be soldiers that aren 't in battle and in uniform and fought against

Some ways that the Boy Scouts helped in their community was by planting trees, collecting aluminum and books, and doing many local jobs. Robert Ellis the author of "Getting the Message Out: The Poster Boys of World War 2" shows clear examples of how they helped in their community. Robert Ellis explains there variant effort to be the best they can and serve for their community by writing, "In 1941 some scouts already operated a messenger service for the Office of Civilian Defense, collected aluminum and books, planted trees, and possibly, did every job some local official could imagine. Boy Scouts were a natural choice for work at the grassroots level in the United States" (Ellis). This illustration shows how well the Boy Scouts operated in their community and how much of a help they were. People would look to them to help do grassroots level work and improve their community. The Boy Scouts were in almost every town and had complete knowledge of their community which was a big factor in their service. But how did this work help in the war effort during World

The Boy Scouts of America did face backlash due to their quickness of delivering posters week after week. At one point store owners were not putting up posters because they had way to many and did not have enough space on their retailers ' windows because they needed space for their adds, others were too big and did not fit on their windows. But that was the least of their problems. Another case was the fact that they were to young to distribute to places where they sold liquor, but they quickly resolved that issue. A major issue arose between the Boy Scouts and the Office of War Information on January 19, 1944, Ellis wrote quoted one of DunLany writing, "NOT ONE SINGLE POSTER... [A]ny distribution system that fails completely to achieve even a token showing on the nation 's number one thoroughfare must have something very wrong with it" (Ellis). With this quote Ellis demonstrates the tension between the Office of War Information and the Boy Scouts, This really arose many issues. At the end of World War 2 the agency was disbanded.

The Boy Scouts of America made a great effort in helping the war effort and positively impacting their community. They managed to get the word across efficiently and quickly of information of the war and improved their community. So next time you see a Boy Scout in your Community thank them for helping and improving our own community and making it a better