Koichi "Kobu" Murakami has been Scoutmaster of Troop 36 for five decades. Photo by Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin

It's one thing to rattle them off. It's quite another to live them. And yet another to inspire others, as Scoutmaster Koichi "Kobu" Murakami has done at Troop 36 for more than half a century.

Murakami recently retired from scouting but his "boys" haven't forgotten him. There will be a retirement party for Murakami on Aug. 25. For more information, call 527-5026 or 732-6180.

Mark Bauer knows he has big hiking shoes to fill as Troop 36's new scoutmaster. "My son Jackson joined the Scouts about four or five years ago and I joined the troop's parent committee," Bauer said. "Then Scoutmaster Murakami announced a couple of years ago that he intended to retire, and we searched for a replacement, which turned out to be me."

It's a family affair. Wife Kathleen is Assistant Scoutmaster while Jackson works on his Eagle.

"Mr. Murakami has really been an inspiration," Bauer said. "He has a way of guiding kids to the scouting way - education, good turns, personal responsibility, cohesiveness as a unit."

"What an institution Kobu's been!" said Jonathan Okabe, a dentist. "It shows you one guy can make a difference. He helped give me moral standards and principles that have stuck with me all my life. And he's just so ... even-tempered. Nothing fazes him. If there was a problem, he'd just correct it with the least amount of fuss. That was a real good role model for excitable boys."

"He taught us to be patient, to set goals and objectives, to institute and implement a plan and then get pleasure out of achieving the steps along the way," said Gary Morikawa, an attorney.

"I remember once, a kid broke his arm on a picnic. Kobu just calmly said, watch this, and rolled up a newspaper to use as a splint and got the kid prepped for the doctor, no sweat. Cool, no panic. Very impressive to a kid like me."

Murakami shrugs off such praise. "As adults, we should have three main aims in scouting. Character, to develop a boy's personal qualities, his values and his outlook. Citizenship, to develop a boy's relationship with others, community and country. And fitness, to develop a boy's body, his mind, his moral fiber and his emotions.

"But the boy, all he's really thinking about is fun and adventure. He wants to do stuff he can't do at home or in school. The trick is coming up with a program that accomplishes both ends."

Troop 36 was organized on March 15, 1924, and its roster included every sixth-grade boy in Moiliili. Murakami joined in January 1937, for the usual reason - his older brothers were in the troop and having fun. "I couldn't wait to be old enough," he recalled.

When anti-aircraft shells shredded Moiliili on Dec. 7, 1941, Murakami and other 36ers mobilized, fighting fires and administering first aid to victims of the bombing. During the tense weeks that followed, they manned first-aid stations and formed black-out patrols. Murakami's Scoutmaster uniform features a "WAR SERVICE" pin, one of the rarest scout decorations.

The troop's Scoutmaster position became a casualty of the blackout. "We couldn't go home after the meetings because of the blackout, so we'd bring blankets and sleep in the American Legion clubhouse," Murakami said. "The Scoutmaster's wife didn't like that, so he had to quit."

It was wartime, and young men didn't have time to shepherd boys. Murakami became de facto Scoutmaster, even though he was only 17. It became official when he turned 20, and became such a respected Scoutmaster that he was awarded the Silver Beaver, scouting's highest service award, in 1958.

He even married the sister of one of his fellows scouts, "one of the most wonderful women in the world, who understands that the Scoutmaster's job can be very lonely sometimes."

During the years, Troop 36 has had more than 2,500 scouts, of which 42 achieved Eagle rank.

Things have changed. The Scoutmaster is no longer a khaki chaperone; these day's he's more likely to be a stabilizing influence on a young man's life.

"One thing I've seen since the war - no fathers," Murakami said. "Some died in the war. These days, it's divorce, or the parents were never married in the first place. There are some family events where I've never seen the fathers, even when their sons are getting awards. Parents need to grow, too, just like the kids.

"Mothers do their best in bringing up the kids, but there's always things that a boy just can't discuss with their mom. I tell the kids, hey, I don't sleep until midnight. You got a problem, call. But you don't lecture, you give advice."

One of Murakami's goals is to teach scouts responsibility for their actions. One of the primary differences between school and scouts is that in school, a child needs only to "pass" to get by, while in scouting every step is "earned."

"You see, all school teaches you these days is knowledge, while scouting teaches you values. You're not a complete citizen unless you have both. It's only through experience that you learn wisdom and common sense."