92-year-old has his Eagle Scout court of honor 75 years late

Eagle Scouts, Scouting professionals and volunteers celebrated 92-year-old John Prince with an Eagle Scout court of honor 75 years after he earned Scouting’s highest honor.

Price achieved the rank in 1941, just as the world was erupting in war.

His Scoutmaster, John Mehltretter, came to Prince’s Bayonne, N.J., home, congratulated him and handed him his Eagle Scout Award.

But there wasn’t time to schedule a court of honor to celebrate Prince’s achievement. Five days later, the 17-year-old joined the Navy.

Prince served on a submarine in the South Pacific during World War II, and he went on to serve his country for 20 years and five months, retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer.

He never thought much about missing out on an Eagle Scout court of honor, but he did hold one thing dear: his Eagle pin.

So, after discovering that it was missing, he reached out to a Baltimore Area Council representative to see if he might get a replacement.

The contact, Ann Klohr, a Carroll District volunteer, was happy to help. She listened to Prince’s story and was surprised to hear that he’d never had court of honor. She turned to district professionals for help.

In June, the district asked Prince to attend a roundtable, at which they thanked him for his service and surprised him with a long-overdue court of honor attended by other Eagles, Scouting professionals and volunteers.

Prince was “overcome with emotion,” Klohr writes.

Join us in giving Prince a long-overdue salute for his achievement in earning the Eagle Scout rank.

Photo courtesy of Bob Betz.

92-year-old has his Eagle Scout court of honor 75 years late