 |
Wyoming Guard Helps Honor Honorary Soldier
(April 26, 2011) | 
|
|
|
Erick Morales, 13, of Powell, Wyo., holds an M4 Carbine, with the help of Wyoming Army National Guard Lt. Col. Sam House, April 21, 2011, at the Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center Simulation Center, in Guernsey, Wyo. Erick spent the day at the Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center as an honorary soldier. Erick suffers from muscular dystrophy and scoliosis. The day was organized by the Wyoming National Guard after receiving a request from the Morales family to help Erick live his dream of becoming a soldier.
Erick Morales, 13, of Powell, Wyo., sports a Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center, in Guernsey, Wyo., fire helmet and a certificate presented to him by Staff Sgt. Alan Snook, the camp's fire chief, April 21, 2011. |
|
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (April 21, 2011) – At the age of 13, "Pvt." Erick
Morales can say he's commanded one of the most powerful
rocket and missile launchers in the Army, led the charge
against an invading hoard, and helped ensure an Army
National Guard training site was safe from fire and
explosives.
And the kid hasn't even been to basic
training.
“The
experience so far has been amazing, especially for Erick,”
said his mother Maria Morales, sporting a smile across her
face. “Because he's gotten to do things that normally nobody
gets to do unless you're in the military.”
Her son
has muscular dystrophy, a disease that is crippling his body
from his legs to his arms. Add to that scoliosis, an ailment
which causes curvature of the spine.
She sought the
help of the Wyoming National Guard to help her son live his
dream of becoming a Soldier. The Morales family was paired
with the state's training site, the Camp Guernsey Joint
Training Center; and the 2nd Battalion, 18th Field Artillery
Regiment, an active duty unit based at Fort Sill, Okla.,
training in Wyoming.
“He was up at about 5 o'clock
this morning and ready to go. Mommy wasn't ready to go yet,
but he was ready to go,” she said of his eagerness to become
an honorary Soldier in the Wyoming Army National Guard. “It
means a lot. It means there's still good in the world.
People want to help kids like Erick and make their wish come
true. Things that normally they might not get to do.”
“There is good in the world, there is a lot of |
good in the world,” said Col. Harold Walker, the
base operations manager for Camp Guernsey.
Walker said this visit may have a primary focus
of helping a young man, but the secondary
effects are felt by the whole staff.
“It just gives
them an opportunity to do something for a young person who
would otherwise not have the opportunity to experience some
of these things. It is really a feel good thing for all of
the crew and it's a great opportunity for them,” he said.
Erick arrived at the Guernsey Army Airfield, from his
home in Powell, Wyo., by a private plane flown by Pilots for
Christ. He was greeted by Soldiers, media and immediately
received his first duty assignment, to go on patrol as a
member of the Camp Guernsey Fire Department.
After a
lap around the camp's cantonment area (complete with lights
and sirens), Erick was given an opportunity to personally
command an M88 Recovery Vehicle – a tank-sized tow truck –
and an M270A1 Multiple Launch Rocket System launcher.
While he measured in at just under 5 feet tall and is
wheelchair bound, Erick and his smile had an immediate
effect on those around him.
“He's just the most
amazing kid you would ever meet. He could brighten your day
even if you're having a bad day. He's just got such energy
in him. It's amazing,” his mother said.
“You've got
someone who's facing some hardships in life, if we can bring
their morale up, it helps bring our morale up helping
somebody else out, completing a wish for somebody else,”
said Sgt. Samuel Rasmussen, with B Battery, 2nd Battalion,
18th Field Artillery Regiment, who watched as the honorary
Soldier was carried in and out of the military vehicles.
Rasmussen said he empathizes with the Morales family,
noting he's dealt with relatives who've suffered crippling
illnesses. “It could happen to anybody, somebody in my
family, myself, somebody in my crew. My heart goes out to
them,” he said. “It's a real hardship on the family, and us
doing something like this for them, it makes you feel good
inside.”
Erick's face brightened after being seated
in the M88, and it grew when the vehicle began to roll down
the streets of Camp Guernsey. His smile was contagious. The
crewman, Pfc. Kevon McLaren, of Bridge Port, Conn., almost
never broke his own smile as he helped hold Erick in place.
Maria Morales, never broke her son's grip, as they held
hands through the special ride-along.
Of course, at
Soldier just isn't a Soldier without firing the Army's
arsenal of small arms. The camp's simulation center afforded
Erick with a chance to engage computer targets, using
military rifles and machine guns.
Add in simulated
explosions and "Pvt." Morales became a man of few words.
After the simulated battle, he said his favorite role was
firing the machine gun, and his favorite part of being a
Soldier was “going to war.” |
| |
Article and photos by Army 1st Lt. Christian Venhuizen
Wyoming National Guard
Copyright 2011
Provided
through DVIDS
Comment on this article |
|
