Wisconsin teen is 2016 Legion Eagle Scout of the Year

The American Legion’s National Americanism Commission announced May 5 during the organization’s annual Spring Meetings in Indianapolis that Jacob Kelley of Cottage Grove, Wis., is the 2016 American Legion Eagle Scout of the Year. A senior at St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy and a member of Boy Scout Unit 145, Grove will receive a $10,000 college scholarship.

For his Eagle Scout project, Kelley folded and personally distributed 3,000 pocket U.S. flags to military personnel at deployment ceremonies. Each pocket flag was placed into a plastic bag with a note from Kelley that read, “A flag for your pocket so you can always carry a little piece of home. We are praying for you, and we are proud of you. Thank you for defending our country and our freedom.”

Kelley’s experience at the deployment ceremonies was “just so very emotional. It was heart-touching and very humbling to be a part of it,” he said.

More than 654 hours, involving 26 different events, went into his Eagle Scout project.

Kelley also conducted several flag etiquette classes at local schools and community events, where he discussed the history of the American flag and how to properly fold it.

Besides involvement with Boy Scouts, Kelley participated in the Legion’s Oratorical Contest program at Post 248 and attended the Department of Wisconsin's Boys State program, where he was elected as state senator and led the color guard detail. He also was named the Department of Wisconsin’s 2015 Eagle Scout of the Year and has helped Post 248 members with the collection and proper disposal of unserviceable flags.

“I have been working on my public speaking skills so that I can do my best while volunteering with The American Legion at various community events,” Kelley said. “These experiences have been a great opportunity to meet some great people along the way who have provided me with a wealth of advice and an extremely humbling amount of support.”

After high school graduation, Kelley will attend a the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York and follow in his family’s history of service; his father and grandfather served in the Air Force. “It will be an honor to continue in my family’s history of service to our country,” he said. “No matter where I end up going to college and wherever my military service takes me, I know that I will continue to be involved in the community where I will live. I want to have a career that makes a difference in the lives of other people.”

As the Legion’s 2016 Eagle Scout of the Year, Kelley will join other Legion youth program champions during the organization’s national convention in Cincinnati, Aug. 28-Sept. 3.

The American Legion also awarded a $2,500 scholarship to three runners-up: Jeremiah Lovestrand of Floral City, Fla.; Liam O’Conner of Wyoming, Del.; and Jacob Quigley of Bourbonnais, Ill.