Troop 421 Boy Scouts - Brownsville

 Lupe Garza

"I am from La 421 barrio; born and raised there 'til I moved in ‘89 after high school. Here is a pic of us young vatos around ‘85. We all grew up together. Went to the same elementary, middle and high school, played at East Brownsville Little League and went to Holy Family Church on Sunday. One guy, Martin Leal who also grew up there, took the initiative to form a Boy Scout Troop and asked us to select a troop number. Of course, right away we all came up the the same number, 421. That number meant so much to us as kids. Martin told us to remember what we represented: the barrio, the elementary school, the church and we were going to be the new leaders. Martin bought a big new extended van as his personal vehicle. He carried us around to camp, car washes, to the island, really anywhere. No one gave him gas money. It was all out of his pocket. I don’t think any other Troop wore their troop number prouder than us. We made sure all the other troops in Brownsville and the Valley knew who were where. We are Troop 421. Those who were in the Troop still shout our call

WHAT TROOP??????"