{"id":99217,"date":"2025-12-29T21:17:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T21:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/99217\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T21:17:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T21:17:10","slug":"lithia-boy-scout-troop-665-honors-veterans-at-bay-pines-cemetery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/99217\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithia Boy Scout Troop 665 Honors Veterans At Bay Pines Cemetery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Boy Scouts from Troop 665 of Lithia place wreaths at veterans\u2019 gravesites during the Wreaths Across America observance. <\/p>\n

By Olivia Clark<\/p>\n

Troop 665 of Lithia participated in the annual Wreaths Across America observance at Bay Pines National Cemetery on December 13. Rising before the sun, the Boy Scouts dedicated their morning to a powerful ceremony of service and remembrance. <\/p>\n

Upon arriving, the Scouts assisted with unloading wreaths from Wreaths Across America trucks and arranging boxes throughout the cemetery for volunteers. <\/p>\n

Once the event commenced, Troop 665 members spread out across the grounds, placing wreaths at the gravesites of veterans. Each Scout paused to read the veteran\u2019s name aloud before standing at attention and rendering a hand salute as a sign of respect. <\/p>\n

Participation in the observance has become a longstanding tradition for the troop. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a yearly tradition that the troop does,\u201d said Robert Teagle, Scoutmaster of Troop 665. \u201cWe sell wreaths as a fundraiser, and it reminds the boys of the service members.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"A Scout from Troop 665 stands at attention after placing a wreath in honor of a veteran during the annual ceremony.<\/p>\n

Following the wreath placement, a ceremony was held to honor members of the United States Armed Forces. The Scouts joined members of the Civil Air Patrol in escorting both active-duty and retired veterans as wreaths were placed to represent each military branch. The final wreath was laid by the troop\u2019s senior patrol leader in honor of prisoners of war and those missing in action. <\/p>\n

Bay Pines National Cemetery holds special significance due to its multigenerational history. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are veterans buried here from World War I, World War II, Vietnam and Korea,\u201d Teagle stated. \u201cIt helps the Scouts understand not only the contributions of our current service members and veterans but also the sacrifices made by their families. This is a multigenerational cemetery.\u201d <\/p>\n

Troop 665 has been participating in Wreaths Across America for about five years. Teagle mentioned that the experience leaves a lasting impression on the Scouts. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey come away thankful for the service of the men and women who served,\u201d Teagle said. \u201cBay Pines holds a very strict veteran ceremony, and it gives them perspective.\u201d <\/p>\n

Teagle said the event reflects the values emphasized within the troop. <\/p>\n

\u201cRespect, honor and service are core values we teach,\u201d Teagle said. \u201cThis experience reinforces the importance of remembering and honoring those who served.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boy Scouts from Troop 665 of Lithia place wreaths at veterans\u2019 gravesites during the Wreaths Across America observance.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-99217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}