One of my umpire shirts from a few years ago has "Hometown Heroes" embroidered on the Little League patch. I'm not so sure that umpires are heroes--we just show up for a game and shout--but the men and women who put in hours and hours coaching youngsters, teaching them skills and hopefully sportsmanship--they're true hometown heroes.

There's no shortage of heroes in the global war on terrorism, but now we have a new and rather unexpected breed: Scout leaders in Iraq.

In a bit of a departure for an Islamic country, Iraq had a Scouting program for many years. Needless to say, under Saddam Hussein the movement was corrupted and was expelled from the World Organization of the Scout Movement.

Some dedicated people from Allied Forces have resurrected the Scouts in Iraq to great success. There are now over 1,000 Boy Scouts and Girl Guides in the Green Zone Council.

There's some history and a photo of the new circular Scout patch here.

Better yet, you can read their blog here.

They have a "wish list" for contributions. Anything would be welcome, but if you know someone who is trying to achieve Eagle in Boy Scouts or First Class in Girl Scouts, they could definitely make a service project by collecting and delivering supplies.

They are selling the round "Green Zone" patch depicted on the Wikipedia page as well as a "Green Zone Council" shoulder patch. If anyone is interested email me at Jims@fm.paratrooper.net