Former Hartford, CT, Boy Scout Leader Honored by His Troop Members

"When Luis Collazo was growing up, there were certain parts of his own neighborhood that were off-limits.

"It was the late '80s. Gangland Hartford, when the Savage Nomads, Ghetto Brothers and Park Street Posse ran on the streets.

"There were lines, invisible boundaries, carving up his slice of Frog Hollow. Kids took their lives into their own hands if they did something as simple as walk a few blocks.

"But amid the chaos there was a protected class of sorts. Gang members recognized this group by their distinctive uniforms. They knew their leader, a man who had once taught them, a man they respected.

"They all knew Boy Scout Troop 5.

"'We would walk down Park Street in the middle of the gang wars and nobody would touch us,' Collazo, 39, said. 'Nobody would dare; they knew we were with Brother Marcus.'"

A recent Hartford Courant article reported on the ministry of Sacred Heart Brother Marcus Turcotte to Troop 5. (The troop, unfortunatly, is no longer active.)

To access the complete Hartford Courant article, please visit:

Hartford Courant: Scouts' Honor: Hartford Men Reunite With Troop Leader Who Saved Them From Gang Culture (7 MAR 16)

Background information

Brothers of the Sacred Heart, SC

Wikipedia: Hartford, Connecticut