How well do you know Paris, France? Probably pretty well if you’ve visited or if you watched the Summer Olympics and Paralympics this year, where several Eagle Scout athletes competed.
But do you know the city of 2.1 million people well enough to take a CBS News correspondent and his crew on a tour about the history between France and the United States?
That’s what Scouts in Troop 112 did earlier this year. The Paris-based unit in the Transatlantic Council showed Ed O’Keefe, CBS News’ senior White House and political correspondent, around the city, stopping by sites with shared American and French history. CBS News was there this past June, covering President Joe Biden’s trip to the country for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
They wanted to do a companion story, and during their research, they found the Transatlantic Council’s field guide to the city. This guide features the Paris Historical Trail as put together by Eric Hian-Cheong of Troop 112 as part of his Eagle Scout project 15 years ago.
After the news crew contacted the troop, adult leaders recruited three Scouts to take O’Keefe along the trail.
“Being able to shed light on this trail that honors Franco-American history to a national audience is beyond incredible to me and is an immense honor,” says Thomas Ravel, 17, an Eagle Scout.
Touring Paris
Some of the Scouts had trekked the 10-mile historical trail before, so they were familiar with the more than two dozen sites, including a statue of Benjamin Franklin, a Statue of Liberty replica and a plaque signifying Thomas Jefferson’s home. Still, they wanted to Be Prepared.
“We all read up on the history for each stopping point and prepared a general understanding of everything these monuments symbolize so many years later and how they are necessary reminders of the past, given current world events,” says Rohan Patel, 17, a Life Scout.
Rohan, Thomas and Cyrus Ansari, accompanied by adult leader Karen Drewes, met with the CBS News crew to go over the tour, which would span from the Trocadéro to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. The crew chatted with the Scouts before they set out, setting a relaxed tone for the day.
“The cameras faded into the background, and we focused on our discussion with Ed O’Keefe,” Rohan says.
The discussion focused not only on history but also on the relationship between the U.S. and France and how it has endured over the centuries. The group walked by famous places, like the Arc de Triomphe, but halted by the sites highlighted in the field guide where the Scouts could share details on that relationship.
“My favorite part was discussing the importance of remembering and preserving Franco-American values, which symbolize the brighter sides of what can be achieved with proper diplomacy,” Rohan says.
The tour went smoothly, with the only hiccup coming when recording around busy, noisy areas, but both the news crew and the Scouts adjusted so the news crew could get the shots they needed for the story.
“I was amazed at how a couple of hours of filming is edited down to just a video of a couple minutes while still managing to retain the video’s punch and clarity,” Thomas says. “It was interesting to be part of this creative process.”
Scouting in France
With more than 50 registered Scouts, Troop 112 is a large unit with large ambitions.
The boys troop, chartered by American Legion Post 1 in Paris, has been around for 70 years. A linked girls troop launched a few years ago. 
Over those seven decades, the troop has started many traditions, like regularly going to Camp Alpine in Switzerland for summer camp, hosting a wilderness survival campout every January and attending a competitive “Patrol Cup” outing.
Troop 112 also serves its community – from collecting and donating gifts to the American Cathedral that are distributed to children for Christmas, to helping its chartered organization and other local veterans’ organizations with their events.
Helping CBS News with its story reminded the Scouts how important fostering peace among nations is and how they can be a voice for that cause.
“Being messengers for peace as Scouts is more crucial than ever,” Rohan says. “America is the literal melting pot of the world, and we must never forget what we represent as a nation to ourselves and abroad.”
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