# Tornado claims the lives of 4 Boy Scouts in Iowa



## Jai (Jun 12, 2008)

When I was younger I went to this same camp three or four times a year. It is a beautiful place and I hope they rebuild. Here is to the memory of the four scouts killed by the storms. :asian:


*Boy Scouts who survived the deadly tornado that killed four and injured 48 described the experience as living through hell, as government officials Thursday hailed the boys as heroes.*

"I've been to hell and back," a dirtied Alex Robertson told FOX affiliate KPTM-TV as he described fleeing the tornado that touched down at the Little Sioux Scout Camp in western Iowa Wednesday evening.

Robertson told the station he ran to a shelter in the nick of time, telling reporters he recorded his words in his camera as he ran.

"The door kicked in, the roof picked up, the walls started going and I was dragged off to the far wall before it got kicked away," he said. "The chimney fell and then the tornado passed about two minutes after that."
Tornadoes also raked Kansas on Wednesday, killing at least two people, destroying much of the small town of Chapman and causing extensive damage on the Kansas State University campus.

Robertson was among the Scouts who immediately began to help the injured.
"They're real heroes, these young men," Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said Thursday. "These camp directors and these youth counselors and others ... literally saved lives during this time period when emergency management couldn't get to them."
Iowa rescue workers cut through downed branches and dug through debris amid rain and lightning Wednesday night to reach the camp where the 93 boys, ages 13 to 18, and 25 staff members were attending a weeklong leadership training camp.
On Thursday officials identified the dead Scouts as Aaron Eilerts, 14, of Eagle Grove, Iowa; Josh Fennen, 13, of Omaha, Neb.; Sam Thomsen, 13, of Omaha, Neb.; Ben Petrzilka, 14, of Omaha, Neb.
At least 42 of the injured remained hospitalized Thursday morning, with everything from cuts and bruises to major head trauma, said Gene Meyer, Iowa's public safety commissioner. At least four of the injured were airlifted from the camp, he said, refusing to elaborate on their conditions or identify the dead.
Lloyd Roitstein, an executive with the Mid America Council of the Boy Scouts of America, said a tornado siren went off at the camp, but the Scouts already had taken cover before the siren sounded.
The boys had been in two groups when the storm hit the ranch in the remote Loess Hills. One group managed to take shelter, while the other was out hiking.
All the Scouts and staff were accounted for, Meyer said, adding that searchers were making another pass through the grounds to make sure no one else was injured. The camp was destroyed.
Scout supervisor Thomas White said he dug through the wreckage of a collapsed fireplace to reach victims in a building where many Scouts had been seeking shelter when the twister struck at 6:35 p.m.
"A bunch of us got together and started undoing the rubble from the fireplace and stuff and waiting for the first responders," White told KMTV-TV in Omaha. "They were under the tables and stuff and on their knees, but they had no chance."
His father, Joel White, jumped in his truck to find his son. "We're just hoping and praying it wasn't him," he told FOX News.
The nearest tornado siren, in nearby Blencoe, sounded only briefly after the storm cut power to the town, said Russ Lawrenson of the Mondamin Fire Department.
Taylor Willoughby, 13, said several Scouts had been getting ready to watch a movie when someone screamed that there was a tornado. Everyone hunkered down, he said, and windows shattered.
"It sounded like a jet that was flying by really close," Taylor told NBC's "Today" on Thursday. "I was hoping that we all made it out OK. I was afraid for my life."
Ethan Hession, also 13, said he crawled under a table with his friend.
"I just remember looking over at my friend, and all of a sudden he just says to me, 'Dear God, save us,"' he told "Today." "Then I just closed my eyes and all of a sudden it's [the tornado] gone."
Ethan said the Scouts' first-aid training immediately compelled them to act.
"We knew that we need to place tourniquets on wounds that were bleeding too much. We knew we need to apply pressure and gauze. We had first-aid kits; we had everything," he said.
Ethan said one staff member took off his shirt and put it on someone who was bleeding to apply pressure and gauze. Other Scouts started digging people out of the rubble, he said.
Roitstein reminded reporters at the news conference that the Boy Scouts motto is "Be Prepared."
"Last night the agencies and the Scouts were prepared," he said. "They knew what to do, they knew where to go and they prepared well."
The injured were taken to Burgess Health Center in Onawa, Alegent Health Clinic in Missouri Valley and Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha.
Burgess spokeswoman Beth Frangedakis said 19 victims arrived at the hospital around 8:30 p.m. They included children ages 2 months to 15 years, plus three adults.
Frangedakis said four were admitted to the hospital, one was taken by helicopter to Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa, and the others were released. She wouldn't release the nature of the victims' injuries.
David Hunt, chairman of the Mid-America Boy Scout Council's Goldenrod District, which covers several eastern Nebraska counties, said he believed the boys were from eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.
The 1,800-acre ranch about 40 miles north of Omaha includes hiking trails through narrow valleys and over steep hills, a 15-acre lake and a rifle range.


----------



## terryl965 (Jun 12, 2008)

:asian:


----------



## wushu2004 (Jun 12, 2008)

I'm going to scout camp in a few days...  It's terrible that this happened.


----------



## Kacey (Jun 12, 2008)

What a horrible tragedy - for the Scouts, and everyone around them.  My condolences to the families of those who died, and my wishes for a speedy and uncomplicated recovery for those who were injured.


----------



## arnisador (Jun 12, 2008)

.


----------



## Tez3 (Jun 12, 2008)

I grieve for my brothers in Scouting.


----------



## pstarr (Jun 13, 2008)

.


----------



## BrandiJo (Jun 13, 2008)

This was all very close to home... my family is still out in Iowa. I prayed that my cousins wernt out there ... all the boys are in scouts. luckily they where not and they are safe. My heart breaks for those families, and those children.


----------



## shesulsa (Jun 13, 2008)

Lord Baden-Powell's salute to these young men out to better themselves.  Watch Heaven's campfire, boys.


----------



## DavidCC (Jun 13, 2008)

the camp can support as many as 800 scouts.  Luckily there were only about 100 there at the time.


----------



## IcemanSK (Jun 13, 2008)

.


----------



## morph4me (Jun 13, 2008)

.


----------

