Threads of Honor: The True Story of a Boy Scout Troop,
Perseverance, Triumph, and an American Flag
by Gordon Ryan with foreword by Sen. Orrin Hatch
ISBN: 0-9728071-0-1
144 pages, 0.39x5.25x8.25 inches, softcover, index, $11.95
With an appendix containing a detailed history of the American flag and flag
protocol.
A true story of courage and sacrifice, of Boy Scouts learning about
perseverance, of the great men and women of the American space program, and
the unquenchable spirit of a most remarkable American flag.
"Prideful concoction of all-American
ingredients, masterfully mixed and sculpted into a scintillating brew, the
true story of the power of a flag, the momentum of a focused Boy Scout team,
and the great rewards of staying the course.
"Infectious inspiration for the Yankee Doodle
Dandy in every American."
Click here
to read the cover story in Meridian Magazine, May 19, 2004, featuring the
Challenger Flag and this book.
"Members of troop 514, Monument, Colo., were
overjoyed to learn their troop flag had been chosen to fly on the space
shuttle Challenger. But joy turned to sorrow on Jan. 28, 1986, when the
shuttled exploded just after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
Nine months later the flag was recovered undamaged from the floor of the
Atlantic Ocean. It was later proclaimed the official flag of the U.S.
Constitution Bicentennial. Threads of Honor: The True Story of a Boy Scout
Troop, Perseverance, Triumph, and an American Flag is guaranteed to give
you goose bumps. By Gordon Ryan."
—Boys'
Life, September 2004 p. 7
Click
here to read the history of the American Flag, excerpted from the
appendix of Threads of Honor.
"Threads of Honor is an inspiring portrayal of the triumph of the human spirit."
—Senator Orrin Hatch
"This is an inspiring story that makes me proud to have been an astronaut,
proud to be an American, and proud to be an Eagle Scout."
—shuttle astronaut Guy Bluford
" . . . I felt the cartilage in my back stretching and it struck me that I
had never stood so tall—that after twenty years in a military uniform, the
proudest moment of my life had come while wearing a scoutmaster's uniform,
standing beside that flag."
—Major William Tolbert
"A good, but small, scouting book. Will make you cry."
The American flag is more than just a piece of cloth—it
symbolizes the courage of many, and the hope of our nation. From the frontiers
of America’s earliest days to today’s battlefields—the American flag has always
represented courage, hope and perseverance. Threads of Honor is about one
particular American flag whose threads touched the lives of many and whose
journey inspired our nation. In today’s troubled times when America is being
bombarded by those who try to threaten our democracy and the freedoms we hold
dear, this book will give readers a stirring reminder of the many men and women
who have sacrificed, and in some instances given everything, for what the flag
represents—our freedom.
Threads of Honor is a wonderful portrait of a Boy Scout troop that wouldn’t give up, their leader
who instills loyalty and steadfastness, and an American flag that changed their
lives forever. It is about America’s space program and the frontiers it
conquers. And it is a story of a journey that a small group of young men and
one American flag took to help comfort a grieving nation. In short, Threads
of Honor is an inspiring portrayal of the triumph of the human spirit.
Senator Orrin Hatch
March 2003
An enormous American flag unfurled himself from the
ceiling and hung majestically before us. Then he began to speak in a deep,
sonorous voice.
“Who’s that?” I whispered to my older sibling, who lay
folded neatly on the shelf next to me.
“Shush,” he whispered back. “That’s the Flag Master—the
Keeper of the Sacred Thread.”
“Oh,” I replied and listened.
I was astonished at the Flag Master’s enormity and
impressed by the authority with which he addressed us. He spoke with great
feeling about the history of our nation and explained that each of us would go
from that place to an assignment that would be uniquely ours. He emphasized the
responsibility that was ours—to fly with dignity and a sense of honor.
Then he said that some of us would journey to Washington D.C. There, we would begin our service in a
brief but glorious moment. It would be our privilege to be hoisted on a staff
mounted on the roof of the Capitol Building.
After flying briefly there, we would be reassigned. Each of us could look
forward to a lifetime of service, with the added prestige of having been a “United
States Capitol” flag.
My last night at the Valley Forge Flag Company I gathered
the courage to ask the Flag Master if he knew my destiny. With a slight ruffle
of his edges, he looked down at my small, four-by-six-foot stature and,
speaking with a voice that seemed to reverberate through eternity, answered in
a way that inspired me, but also puzzled me a little.
“I know your history young man, but your destiny is in
your threads. See that you honor them.”
The process that Bill Tolbert was required
to go through in his attempt to obtain flight clearance for Troop 514’s
flag would have deterred a lesser man. But the responsibility he felt for
those young men, now numbering fourteen scouts, and the image of their
eager faces at each meeting, kept him going. Their excitement over the
possibility that their flag might actually go into space and return
inspired him to persist. He enlisted the help of all his resources to get
the flag included in the official flight kit. Finally, beaming with
satisfaction, he stood one night before the troop and announced that their
request had been approved. Troop 514’s flag would be on the next shuttle
mission, due to launch in eight weeks.
