Medal of Honor Adventure attracts local participants

Casey Ressler/Frontiersman Valley Life editor

WASILLA — Two local Boy Scouts recently became the first Alaskans to take part in the Medal of Honor Adventure in Valley Forge, Pa., and they returned with a new look on American history.

The four-day adventure celebrates Medal of Honor recipients and gives young people a firsthand experience with the historical figures who shaped America. It was a trip Justin Kaucic, 15, and Chuckie Kaucic, 12, will not soon forget.

"You learn a lot about American heritage and history," Chuckie Kaucic said. "They give you a good view of what it was like back then."

As part of the four-day adventure, the Kaucics got to meet with Medal of Honor recipients, perform community-service projects and visit the Medal of Honor Grove, which pays tribute to all Medal of Honor recipients.

"Talking to the Medal of Honor winners was one of the best things about the trip," Justin Kaucic said. "They encouraged everybody to serve their country in some way. I got to sit at the head table at the banquet on the last day with them."

The boys actually got to meet historical figures like Abraham Lincoln face to face. At least that's the way it seemed, as people posing as the historical figures talked with the boys and reenacted the past.

"They were a step ahead of anything the boys had seen before," said their father, Chuck Kaucic. "The reenactments were out of this world they said."

The "actors" talked in the manner of the people they were emulating, wrote like them and looked exactly like them. Every detail was covered.

"They could even tell you about their brother or their sons," Justin Kaucic said. "They made it fun and educational."

The community project in which the boys participated was clearing brush and trees from the Medal of Honor Grove.

Each state has an obelisk in the grove, and surrounding the obelisk were the names of each Medal of Honor winner from that state.

"The fall colors were there, and seeing the grove at that time was pretty neat, " Justin Kaucic said. His father said it was the first time the boys had actually seen fall on the East Coast, with its impressive blaze of colors.

The boys are hoping to pass on some of the knowledge gained through the trip to their fellow Boy Scouts in Troop 367.

Justin is an Eagle Scout, while his younger brother Chuckie has earned the rank of Life Scout.

"I'd tell everyone it is a good opportunity to meet Medal of Honor winners and to find out what the Medal of Honor really is about," Chuckie Kaucic said.

This is only the third year for the Medal of Honor Adventure. The boys were the first Alaskans to attend the event.

The boys worked to raise the money for the trip. Local organizations also helped them raise the money.

They were sponsored by the AMVETS, American Legion posts 15 and 35 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9365.

The brothers are preparing presentations for the groups who supported them.