European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 17, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                For scouts the older boy scouts watched quietly standing on the Tarmac beside the c-9a Nightingale medical evacuation aircraft. Under a hazy midday Sun Distant figures in desert fatigues and flight suits disc barked from an air Force transport about 75 Yards away and walked to a nearby hangar at Rhein main a Germany. Some of the persian Gulf War medical evacuees limped along on crutches others were supported by their military colleagues. A. A few of the younger cub scouts scrambled for a better look and called to each other excitedly their tour of the c-9a aircraft momentarily forgotten. A. A a \ not forgotten was the fact that some of the scouts parents were serving in the persian Gulf. The absence of parents and scout leaders was the reason the boys were at Rhein main taking. Part in one of six Daylong sessions dubbed North Star District scout activity Days. Quot out of 434 scoutmaster and leaders in our District we lost 138 to saudi a said Jerry Olsen senior District executive. The solution was to Call in volunteers to take Over the Job. The program at Rhein main Early in March Drew about 54 adult volunteers and so omit leaders to Aid with the sessions designed to help the boys work toward Merit badges and improve scouting skills. More than 150 cub and boy scouts from All Over the District covering Bremerhaven to Frankfurt. Joined in the activities. B 07 and photos by a l Emmett Lewis Jav staff photographer. A. A the activity Days arc not intended to replace troop meetings a they will continue when the military members come Back from   Williams an air Force lieutenant col Onet who helped organize the event. A the activity Days Are to supplement the troop meetings. This Way they done to have to go six months without something happening. A six months  Long time for a seventh  a a a future activity Days will be on citizenship the outdoors aquatics physical fitness and vocations. The decision to concentrate on first Aid safety and emergency preparedness in the first session was motivated by the deployment of Many parents Olsen said. He said the scouts Learned skills that might be especially valuable in parents absence a Quot today they re teaching us How to help if my family was Ever in need Quot said Aaron. Romero a 13-year-old boy scout from the Frankfurt military Community. Quot id be Able to help them if there was something like an  Aaron s father is in the array and used to help Aaron w Ith his scout activities. Now the father is serving in the Gulf. For Shain Gillel 10, whose army father has been in the Gull since Early january the activity Day volunteers filled in by doing what Shains father would have otherwise done