BASTOGNE, Belgium-The Boy Scouts of America used the 65th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge as a teaching moment for military boys living near the tri-border region of U.S. Army Garrison Schinnen, The Netherlands.
The day began at 4 a.m., when 37 kids, parents and siblings loaded up the cars and drove two hours to Bastogne, Belgium, for the 32nd annual Battle of the Bulge Historic Walk.
"This is an official Boy Scouts of America Historical Trail," said Chris Ballard, scoutmaster for Troop 100, Joint Force Command Brunssum.
The Boy Scouts of America has 300 nationally approved trails across the globe, including nine in Europe.
"We do an activity every month," said Ballard, "usually a camp out, and then with the camp out, we always try to incorporate Scout skills or leader development or historical significance type things, so this fit right into all that."
Although the boys didn't camp out in Bastogne because of cold and wet weather conditions, Ballard said that 15 Scouts traveled to Belgium in hopes to earn the official Battle of the Bulge Historical Trail patch.
Nash Pinaula, 11, was one of the Scouts who set out on the 12-kilometer walk to earn his patch. Along the trail, he encountered re-enactors set up in foxholes with various World War II weapons.
"I learned that grenades have a substance inside of them that makes them explode and that they're not just combustional," he said.
What he learned along the route was important because in addition to hiking the trail, the boys were required to learn about the history of the location before earning their patch.
Christopher Figueroa, 13, has been a Scout for six years. He attended the Bastogne walk in 2008 and said it was fun. He added that he enjoyed seeing what the troops actually experienced in World War II and decided to walk again this year with his friends.
Other historic trails in Europe can be found in and around Heidelberg and Nuernburg in Germany, Pisa and Verona in Italy, Verdun and Normandy in France and Waterloo, Belgium.
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