Eagle Scout project honors Tioga County’s heroes killed in action

Cataloging pertinent details about Tioga County’s heroes killed in action from World War I through the present day was the focus of a local youth’s recent Eagle Scout project.

Ryan Trenchard, of Owego’s Boy Scout Troop 60, spent a considerable amount of time over the past six months gathering information on-line and from Tioga County cemeteries.

The 14-year-old youth, a freshman at Owego Free Academy, has had his Eagle Scout project approved on the local level and is awaiting word from the national headquarters. An Eagle Court of Honor is forthcoming.

The project, “Fallen Heroes of Tioga County by GPS Burial Site,” showcases a profile of how each fallen hero was killed, where they were killed and where they are buried, along with other facts. The list includes upwards of 189 names.

Utilizing today’s modern technology such as on-line map systems, Ryan set up GPS coordinates so that anyone looking for a particular fallen soldier could easily find them in any of Tioga County’s cemeteries.

“It was definitely needed,” said Matt Lewis, Troop 60 Scoutmaster, adding, “Ryan was able to correct several inaccuracies, too.”

Lewis also remarked that Ryan’s in-depth project is a valuable resource for Tioga County, and is a starting point for related projects.

Ryan said that the project took “leaps and bounds” to complete, and particularly noted that challenges included traversing cemeteries scattered all throughout the county, and that many times he had to remove brush or other debris in order to find graves. Weather played a factor, too, such as extremely warm days, and countless rainy days.

“Some graves were hard to find,” Ryan said, adding that a difficult hurdle posed was the lack of good maps and records at a few of the cemeteries.

To supplement his efforts, Ryan spent time researching on-line and was able to find information he needed via findagrave.com and other websites.

Ryan estimates he committed nearly 80 hours and traveled about 173 miles.

When asked what other positive aspects resulted from his efforts, Ryan remarked that giving back to the community was important to him, as well as, through leadership, helping fellow scouts understand the importance of honoring the fallen.

Ryan, who has been involved with the scouting program since he was a Tiger Scout at age seven, comes from a family of Scouts. Ryan’s father, Ralph, an Iraq veteran, is himself a Life Scout, and a younger sister plans to follow in her big brother’s footsteps.

Ralph commented, “Ryan is crushing everything I ever did, I’m proud of him.”

To complement his Eagle project, Ryan and Ralph took on a sentimental mission in July to honor soldiers from the 98th U.S. Army Division who were killed in action in Iraq, during the 2004-2005 timeframe that Ralph served. The duo flew the American Flag, the U.S. Army Flag, and a name banner at a stopping point during a climb up Mount Marcy. Several other hikers, fundraising for veterans’ organizations and in honor of service members and the fallen, summited as many as 42 Adirondack High Peaks.  

Ryan thanks Troop 60 members, along with individuals from Sayre Scout Troop 4018, who participated in activities that helped him achieve the project completion.

Interestingly, and perhaps a meant-to-be moment, Ryan and fellow Troop 60 scouts uncovered information about a soldier killed in action who, it was realized, was a relative of one of the scouts.

Following his Eagle Scout recognition, Ryan plans to continue service projects through the Boy Scouts of America’s “Order of the Arrow.”

A copy of Ryan’s project will be shared with the local V.F.W. and American Legion, as well as the Tioga County Veteran’s Service Agency and the Tioga County Historical Society.

Ryan will present his project at the Veterans Day ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. at the V.F.W. Post 1371 in Owego. 

To learn more, join the Facebook group, “Tioga County Killed in Action Soldiers.”