Year later, Scouts remember

Under a sunny sky this morning, the Boy Scouts remembered a night of deadly storms.

Flags were lowered to half-staff at the Durham Scout Center in Omaha to mark the one-year anniversary of the deadly storm at Little Sioux Scout Ranch that claimed the lives of four Scouts.

Ben Petrzilka, Sam Thomsen and Josh Fennen, all 13, of Omaha and Aaron Eilerts, 14, of Eagle Grove, Iowa, were killed as a tornado decimated the camp in western Iowa.

Scout Christian Jones, who knew the boys, spoke at the ceremony.

"They were all friends to everybody, and it was an honor to know them and call them my friends," he said.

Afterward, Jones said he felt a need to be at the ceremony. Petrzilka was a member of Jones' Troop 448.

"It's a remembrance for me, and it draws it into a full circle, last year to this year," he said. "We will never forget."

Scout Zach Schlegel, also of Troop 448, took part in the flag-lowering ceremony and led the group in a prayer.

"It meant a lot to be out here," he said.

Lloyd Roitstein, executive director of the Boy Scouts' Mid-America Council, said the Scouts are working to honor the memories of the four boys, with plans for a memorial statue at the Durham Scout Center and a chapel on the foundation of the cabin where the four Scouts were killed. The chapel will be built with timber salvaged from the tornado, he said, "literally transforming the devastation into something full of hope."

Ron Way, whose son Alex was at Little Sioux during the June 11, 2008, storm, said he still thinks about the tragedy. He attended the flag ceremony to remember the boys who died and to support the boys who survived.

"All the other boys came out OK, but we've got four that aren't here anymore," he said. "It's not quite fair."

About 100 Scouts, volunteers and family members were on hand.

Roitstein said Scouting organizations across the country were flying flags at half-staff today to mark the anniversary.

"This hit the Scouting family all over the country," he said. "It's really more than just the Mid-America Council. It's Boy Scouts in general."

• Contact the writer: 444-1074, john.keenan@owh.com