While most teenagers are enjoying typical summer activities like swimming, cycling, and boating, youths in two local Scout troops took Monday afternoon off to thank a pair of veterans for their service.

Kids in Dartmouth’s Scout Troop 74 came up with the idea after learning about an area veteran suffering from a terminal illness.

The boys teamed up with Westport’s Scout Troop 2019 to collaborate on an event honoring the veteran and his roommate.

Both men — who asked to remain anonymous — are Army veterans. One fought in Vietnam and the Korean War, while the other fought in World War II, receiving recognition for his service from President Franklin Roosevelt.

On July 20, around a dozen teens came out for an outdoor window visit, bringing signs and thank-you cards and playing patriotic songs on the trumpet.

They also read a biographical paragraph about each of the men, ending with a salute to show their respect, which was returned.

13-year-old Scout and Dartmouth Middle Schooler Zachary Amaral did the readings, and said that he was inspired by the veterans’ achievements.

“We wanted to show how grateful we are to have them in our country,” he said of the event. “It wasn’t too long, but the men definitely seemed happy...we really made their day.”

Amaral noted that he was glad to be able to honor the veterans and give them the attention they deserve.

“The only real challenge to deal with was the social distancing itself,” he added.

Fellow Dartmouth Middle Schooler and 13-year-old Scout Elizabeth Santos agreed that keeping six feet apart was a challenge.

“We haven’t seen each other for so long,” she explained.

Santos also said that the salute was her favorite part. “When they were able to salute us, that kind of felt special,” she said.

As for whether she’d do a similar event again for other veterans, Santos responded, “Definitely!”

“If we weren’t in this pandemic, I'd like to make it an in-person type of deal,” she added.

Troop 74 Merit Badge Counselor Tracie Ferreira said according to a social worker at the facility, everyone in the veterans’ room was crying during the celebration. “They really appreciated it,” she said.

Ferreira’s son Tyler, the troop’s resident bugler, played “God Bless America” for the occasion.

As for the event itself, Ferreira said, the Scout leaders and kids were careful to stay six feet apart from each other and observers, and were happy to pay tribute to the veterans.

“It’s important to kind of give back and pay your respects,” she noted. “They all enjoyed it, and for 15 minutes of our lives, it made a huge difference to those two gentlemen.”

“It went really well,” she added. “The kids were phenomenal.”

A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to the Scout troop in Westport as “Girl Scouts”. It is an all-female Scout troop with no affiliation to the Girl Scouts of the USA.