More than two dozen of Lancaster County's future Eagle scouts and Boy Scouts of America executives attended the first National Jamboree held in Washington, D.C., in 1937.

Before they became veterans of wartime military service and distinguished themselves in industrial engineering, physics, salesmanship and watchmaking, they were members of Jamboree Troop 3. Their jamboree journey started when they boarded a train in Lancaster city for the day-long trip that included stops in York and Baltimore en route to Union Station near the U.S. Capitol.

They hiked with gear about four miles around Capitol Hill, past the Smithsonian Museum and beyond the Washington Monument to a temporary campsite for 25,000 people between the Lincoln Memorial and the Potomac River.

One of the youngest of the group of teenagers, L. James "Jimmie" Dunn, kept a journal of jamboree highs and lows during the encampment from June 30 to July 9, 1937. (See below.) The U.S. event preceded the fifth world jamboree held in Holland from July 20 to Aug. 12, 1937.

Dunn's scoutmaster for Jamboree Troop 3 was Paul G. Kutz, who was active in Boy Scouts starting in 1925 and continuing for 75 years.

At the time of the jamboree, Kutz was a high school mathematics teacher. Later, as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1946, he served as an aerial navigator in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, he became an industrial engineer and helped the Pennsylvania Dutch Council develop J. Edward Mack Scout Reservation. He served on the council's executive board for more than 40 years.

In his Jamboree Journal entry, Dunn listed Quintin Eisemann and Paul Liller of Lancaster County under the heading, "New Friends I Want To Remember." He also listed three scouts from Virginia and one from North Carolina.

Eisemann, who became an Eagle Scout, graduated from high school in 1938 and served during World War II in the U.S. Navy as an electrician's mate.

Eisemann found work as a wholesale flooring sales manager and was named Millionaire for a Day in 1974 by the former Armstrong Cork Co. because he was one of 50 men nationwide to exceed a sales quota.

Active with Boy Scouts for 68 years, he was a scoutmaster and cubmaster. He received the Silver Beaver Award and was named Chief Bull Thrower (president) of the Throwing Bull Tribe of Lancaster County in 1960.

Also, he founded Veteran's Place, Ephrata, a shelter for homeless veterans, and obtained the names of all Ephrata-area veterans killed in action from World War I through the Vietnam War for a plaque at Ephrata's War Memorial Field. His brother, Henry Milton, died on D-Day during World War II.

Liller graduated from high school and joined the U.S. Marine Corps, serving during World War II at Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Guam and Iwo Jima. He received the Purple Heart medal.

After the war, he earned degrees from Franklin & Marshall College and the University of Delaware. A physicist, he worked in the color picture tube and high voltage phenomena department of the former RCA Corp. for 26 years. In 1976, he was granted a patent for his invention of a means to determine low-voltage aging of cathode ray tubes.

Liller was a charter member of the Lancaster County Historical Society and volunteered at Lancaster General Hospital. A sports enthusiast, he enjoyed playing golf, bowling and baseball, and he was a competitive bridge player.

Dunn, a Star Scout at the time of the jamboree, earned the Eagle Scout Award in 1938 and played trumpet in the high school band before graduating in 1941. He served in World War II with the Army's 551st Infantry and was a bugler for the Army Band.

After the war, Dunn led a band and also enjoyed playing trumpet in Valentino's Band, which had a regular following on Thursday nights at Valentino's Cafe.

He retired from Hamilton Watch Co. after 44 years of service as a master technician.

For 70 years after the 1937 Jamboree, he was active in a variety of Lancaster organizations including the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and Emmanuel Lutheran Church.

With his journal observations of the 1937 Jamboree, Dunn created snapshots of the first event that set a standard for national fellowship among Boy Scouts, adult leaders and officials.

His legacy will be honored by participants in the 2010 Jamboree who take time to record their experiences and use the resources of the Home Town News staff to get the word out about Boy Scouts and Venturing in the movement's 100th anniversary year.

Excerpts from journal

July 27 — Wakeup on the Mall at 6:30 a.m. Troop attended Sunday school along the Potomac River. Scouts got medical exam and visited the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.

July 28 — Jimmie Dunn went to the trading post until midday. Scouts toured "the Smithsonian Institution and also visited the aircraft building." He took a shower.

June 29 — He aired bedding. "We drilled, and then I took a shower." "I marched and it rained."

June 30 — Group picture taken.

July 1 — "Went to the arena (twice) and practiced … for our play."

July 2 — "Went to Mount Vernon by boat."

July 3 — "Acted as our orderly." "Went to the polo field and marched." "My parents visited."

July 4 — Attended church service, went out with his parents.

July 5 — "Rained nearly all morning so I stayed in camp." He and a new friend, Paul Liller of Lancaster, went to the movies, saw fireworks.

July 6 — Washed handkerchiefs, went to the movies, returned to camp for a sectional review.

July 7 — Went to the movies, Smithsonian Medical Institution, Smithsonian Freer Art Gallery and U.S. Capitol. Back at camp, "We had a campfire, and Dan Beard (a charter member of BSA's executive board) was there."

July 8 — Went to Constitution Avenue and saw President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served as honorary BSA president. Worked on a neckerchief slide.

July 9 — Packed gear, got ready to go home. The group departed from Union Station. Arrived in Lancaster at 9:15 p.m. "A reporter interviewed me at the station." Parents drove the boys home. Two neighborhood women "were waiting to greet me. I took a bath and went to bed."

bhannegan@lnpnews.com