Washington D.C. -- –
It’s not often that Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) gets to help with Boy Scout Eagle Award Projects, but recently, NAVSEA helped Eagle Scout Matthew Aguilar Jr. in his mission to build a Navy veterans’ memorial in his hometown of Lawton, Oklahoma.
“I feel there is a need to give back for all the blessings I was born into being an American, and a ‘thank you’ just wasn’t enough,” Aguilar Jr. said.
A Boy Scout Eagle Award Project is the last step for a Boy Scout to receive the rank of Eagle Scout, which is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA (Boy Scouts of America) program. In order to achieve this rank, they must demonstrate Scout spirit and complete a service project that the Scout plans, organizes, leads, and manages.
At first, Aguilar Jr. had big dreams for the centerpiece of his project, something from the USS Arizona or the USS Oklahoma, but in his research he learned that those ships were memorialized at Pearl Harbor, so it would not be possible. With multiple family connections to the Navy, Aguilar Jr. was still dedicated to his original idea of honoring Navy veterans. He was also inspired by his desire to attend one of the U.S. service academies after his high school graduation. He just needed to try to find the centerpiece for the memorial.
At the time he started the project, Aguilar Jr.’s cousin, Capt. Robert Aguilar, served as the commanding officer of the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77). Capt. Aguilar put him in contact with Jeffrey Bowdoin from Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC), and eventually Curtis Brown from NAVSEA. Brown is the lead for Navy Submarine Artifacts Requests and was the prefect perfect person to get the ball rolling on securing an appropriate artifact.
NAVSEA and NHHC joined forces to make it possible for Aguilar Jr. to finish his Eagle Scout Project. Bowdoin, curator branch head with NHHC, and Brown, project engineer for the Inactivation, Recycling and Reactor Compartment Disposal, Program Executive Office Submarines, were instrumental in helping Aguilar Jr. get the anchor and chain for his Eagle Scout Project.
At first, Brown helped Aguilar Jr. get on the right path to request such a large piece of a Navy ship.
“I helped point him in the right direction for requesting naval artifacts for display, the request must come from a nonprofit organization, and directed him to his mayor and the City of Lawton for help and support,” Brown said.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the project though. At first, Aguilar Jr. requested and was approved for the sail of the USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723), a Los Angeles-Class submarine that was decommissioned May 20, 2022. However, he learned that the sail wouldn’t be available until 2029 at the earliest. This posed a problem for Aguilar Jr. as his Eagle Scout Project needed to be completed by his 18th birthday, which was the beginning of October 2022. Eventually he was able to get approval for the anchor and chain of the USS Oklahoma City.
“I received a request from [Aguilar Jr.’s] mayor and city manager in 2021 requesting the anchor and chain be donated to the City of Lawton with their full support of his project and I was able to grant tentative approval,” Brown said.
After he knew it was possible to get everything he needed to complete the project on time, then came the work of fundraising. All Boy Scout Eagle Projects must be funded by donations. Donations can consist of money, materials, sponsorship, transportation, and more and must be done in the beneficiary’s name, not the name of Scouting.
With a goal of $50,000, the estimated cost to cover shipping the anchor from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington to Oklahoma, and all other construction costs related to building the memorial, Aguilar Jr. had a long way to go until he could finish. He hit the ground running on fundraising for his project by going to multiple civic organizations to ask for donations and setting up a GoFundMe page.
“The generosity from my community and family and friends was overwhelming,” Aguilar Jr. said.
One local, nonprofit organization with a focus on education, human services, the arts, and youth programs, agreed to a matching grant of $2 to every $1 raised, up to $18,000.
Once all of the money was raised, construction could begin on the monument, and local businesses donated their time, equipment and expertise to Aguilar Jr.’s project.
Aguilar Jr. said he worked with a local oil company owner who volunteered to pick up the anchor and chain from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington, and transport it back to Lawton, Oklahoma. One company allowed the anchor to be stored at their facility, another had the anchor and chain sandblasted and powder-coated, and a local construction company assisted with pouring the concrete pad for the memorial site in the park along with installing the benches and granite monoliths created by a local granite manufacturer.
This gave Aguilar Jr. an opportunity to participate in hands-on work at the memorial site including setting rebar and helping with welding tasks on the anchor.
“I learned a great deal and am proud to say I had a hand in every piece of my project,” he said.
On top of the help from local businesses, Aguilar Jr. had the help and support of his family, his community leaders, and his Boy Scout Troop.
“They say your family is the backbone to your success and my family has certainly been that,” he said. “I am very fortunate to be from such a great community like Lawton-Fort Sill. The support I've had for my project has been incredible.”
Finally after a year and a half of hard work, dedication, and perseverance, Aguilar Jr. finished his Boy Scout Eagle Project. He said that the process taught him many things including public speaking, scheduling, and hands-on work like pouring concrete.
“Thankfully it all came together and I completed my project three days before my 18th birthday,” Aguilar Jr. said.
Boy Scout Eagle Projects are meant to not only enrich the community but to teach the Scouts valuable lessons to prepare them for working in the real world.
“One significant thing that I learned from this project was to have patience,” Aguilar Jr. said. “I experienced numerous setbacks in scheduling work requirements and ensuring tasks were accomplished. I learned to handle multiple projects and tasks at the same time along with making decisions on required changes that arose during the construction of my project.”
For all of his hard work and perseverance, Aguilar Jr. received coins from Brown and the commander of the USS Oklahoma City and had a chance to tour the submarine and meet her crew on a trip to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in December 2021.
“I felt it was our duty to the community as a command and the Navy as a whole to support this young man in any way possible that we could to help him succeed,” Brown said.