Hermiston brothers Seilala Jr. (left) and Siu Sepeni of Scout Troop 605 recently attained their Eagle Scout rank.

HERMISTON — Brothers Seilala Jr. and Siu Sepeni of Hermiston recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout, scouting’s highest honor.

According to a news release, the Boy Scouts of America’s Blue Mountain Council gave the award on Jan. 19 in Hermiston.

The Scouts are the sons of Falefitu and Pitolua Sepeni of Hermiston, and both are members of Troop 605, chartered by the Butte Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their Scout leader is Jeremy Harris.

Siu attends Sandstone Middle School where he is active in football, basketball, wrestling and track. He’s also a teacher’s assistant at school and serves as a teacher in his young men’s quorum at church. He plans to serve a two-year mission after high school, followed up by college.

Seilala attends Hermiston High School and is active in football, Associated Student Body leadership and college savings group. He is also active in the young men’s quorum at church. He also intends to serve a two-year mission for his church after graduating, and plans to major in mechanical engineering in college.

In order to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, the Scouts each had to earn 21 merit badges and show leadership by planning, developing, and completing a community service project. For their projects, the brothers each built an outdoor information bulletin board and placed them at Harrison Park and Sunset Park. The projects were funded by the city of Hermiston and took a combined 290 hours to complete.

Linda Miller, executive assistant of the Blue Mountain Council, said the rank of Eagle Scout is earned by less than 4% of all youths who join Boy Scouts of America. In 2019, 188 boys in the Blue Mountain Council, Boy Scouts of America earned the Eagle Scout Award, providing over 20,452 service hours.