As a 16-year-old candidate for the highest rank bestowed by the BSA, he was personally interviewed by a panel composed of the youth organization's founders, including Ernest Thompson Seton and Daniel Carter Beard.

[1] Eldred also received the Bronze Honor Medal for lifesaving, and was the first of four generations of Eagle Scouts in his family.

A graduate of Cornell University, Eldred enlisted at age 22 in the United States Navy in January 1918, nine months after the U.S. entry into World War I.

West paid the expenses for the troop to travel to New York harbor for Baden-Powell's arrival in the morning of January 31, 1912.

[4][5][6] Eldred's merit badges were noted in the Honor Roll of the August 1912 edition of Boys' Life.

[2] Instead, Eldred had a thorough National Board of Review consisting of West, Baden-Powell, Ernest Thompson Seton, Daniel Carter Beard, Arthur R. Forbush, and Wilbert E. Longfellow, who wrote in the Handbook for Boys on life-saving and swimming.

[7] Largely due to delays caused by Baden-Powell's visit, the National Court of Honor did not convene until March 29, 1912.

[7] At the university, Eldred was a member of the Alpha Zeta fraternity, president of the Agricultural Association and participated in track and cross-country.

He was initially assigned to the Philadelphia Naval Yard before shipping out on the transport USS Henderson (AP-1) on Sunday, June 30, 1918, from Bush Terminal in Brooklyn, New York, for overseas duty.

During the Henderson's seventh troop transport voyage to France there was a fire on board on July 2, 1918, that resulted in the ship returning to the United States.

[7] Eldred arrived in Italy in July 1918 and eventually at Sub Chaser Base 25, located in Corfu, Greece in September 1918.

The conditions at the hospital were so bad that he had to crawl to a stream to get water, which resulted in a permanent scar on his left hip.

As the trucking industry became a major competitor for the carriage of agricultural products, Eldred became the manager of the Eastern Railroad Association's Motor Carrier Committee.

The National Eagle Scout Association chapter of the BSA's Theodore Roosevelt Council in Massapequa, New York, is named in honor of Eldred.