Scout Troop honors 100th Eagle and more

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Boy Scout Troop 303 of Oceanside was formed in 1954. On June 12 they honored their 100th Eagle Scout when four Scouts were recognized in a Court of Honor, Franciso Zuart, Thomas Brussell, Joseph Kocaj and Stephen Daskalakis.

The troop has had only 12 Scoutmasters over 62 years, and many of them stay active in troop activities after their term is up. Tony Marino is the current Scout Master.

There are two people who have been with the troop for 30 years including Ellen Stoff, who has served as assistant scoutmaster and troop chairperson and now as chairperson of the Eagle Courts of Honor; others have been with the troop for over 20 years. She said usually about 18 returning Eagles attend, but this year 25 Eagles returned.

“In the year 2000 we became the first four brothers Eagle family in the country for the new century. Coincidentally three of those brothers are now involved in football operations; Peter Caracciolo is the head of football operations for the Oakland Raiders, Matt Caracciolo heads football operations for the New England Patriots and Thomas Caracciolo works with the Kansas City Chiefs”, Stoff told the gathering.

They also have a three-brother family and many two-brother families.

“We have produced an Eagle, Brian Gibel, class of 1989, who is currently a foreign diplomat for the United States, Stoff said. While he was stationed in South Korea last year he was in charge of our president’s trip to that country which went flawlessly by the way. He wrote to our Eagles in the past saying,  ‘Although my involvement in scouting grows more distant each year, the influence scouting has had on my life has not wavered even as I take part in my career as a diplomat, I find it difficult to forget our weekend camping trips, Monday night meetings in the school gym, and yes, even a few merit badges I have earned along the way. Please just remind the boys that the world is a much bigger place than Oceanside.’

“Brian’s brother Keith Gibel, class of 1984, is a Commander in the United States Navy JAG (Judge Advocate General) serving as an attorney,” Stoff continued, “currently stationed with his wife and 3 daughters in Germany for the next three years. Another Eagle, Michael Bonacorsa, class of 2000, is a Lt. in the Navy, formerly with NCIS in Florida but now on the staff for the Commander of the US Fourth Fleet. Carl Misitano, brother of one of today’s inductees, and a recent graduate of Carnegie Mellon University is now in the Navy as well, a Lieutenant Junior Grade, currently stationed in Williamsburg, Va. For 7 months in 2010 Carl was deployed in the Persian Gulf aboard the USS the Sullivans. For those of you who are not aware, the Sullivans were a five-brother family who were all on board the same ship during WWII. The ship went down carrying all five brothers to their death. After that tragedy no two brothers could be assigned to the same ship at the same time.

“Eagle Scout Brian App, class of 1988, along with his wife and 2 young daughters, will spend the next 3 years as the Deputy Director for the South Africa Regional Environmental Program, helping the peoples of Angola, Botswana and Namibia to access drinking water, learn about sanitation and develop sustainable livelihoods. Brian asked me to congratulate our newest Eagles and tell them that ‘the sense of adventure, duty, and accomplishment that I gained through Scouting helped to put me on the path I am on today, one where I try to do my part to leave a positive legacy from the life I live.’

“What makes me proudest about each of them is that each has always shown his caring and his concern for others, helping and inspiring them to be the best that they can be,” Stoff concluded.