Posted on 03/21/2008 5:40:04 PM PDT by dbehsman
FORT HOOD – Five-year-old Gaven Cox was given one wish to do anything he wanted.
Instead of asking to go to Sea World or to meet Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, Gaven modestly asked for some McDonald's food. The child's parents laughed and told him to make another choice.
"He told us he wanted to be an Army soldier," said Melissa Heminger, Gaven's mom. "I was a little bit surprised that he asked for McDonald's, but in reality, he wanted to be a soldier since he was 3."
Gaven, who is diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, was granted one wish by the Make-A-Wish-Foundation.
Heminger said Gaven's stepfather was a former soldier and his Army medals fascinated Gaven.
While the Army has age restrictions on how old a person must be to enlist, it decided to make an exception.
Gaven, the nation's youngest soldier, is from Crandall and was "sworn in" there. Crandall is 27 miles southeast of Dallas.
The 5-year-old and his family arrived at Fort Hood early Thursday morning and were greeted by more than a dozen soldiers. He was wearing a miniature-sized combat uniform. In a few minutes, he was given a Kevlar helmet and dog tags and was promoted from specialist to sergeant.
After his promotion, young Sgt. Cox gave a proper Army salute and was given a mission.
"All right, Sgt. Cox, your mission is to go through that gate, ride a horse and kill five enemies," said Sgt. Christopher Gaines. "Are you ready?"
His 8-year-old sister Jade shouted, "Let's get them!"
After defeating the "enemy" on horseback, the country's youngest soldier got to do what most never get to do: Gaven flew a Longbow helicopter.
Well, sort of.
(Excerpt) Read more at kdhnews.com ...
There is more to the article and some pictures. I would highly recommend reading the full article.
What a wonderful story! God Bless this little boy and God Bless those who gave him his wish.
PING!!
must get tissues...
That’s really cool
If the kid pulls through, and I hope he does, I imagine he’d enlist.
Dang blurry screen?
*sniff*
Prayers for Gaven Cox . Thanks to all the people who made his wish come true. Darn its hard to type through tears.
I’ll take one of those.
Ping
Much obliged for the ping
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
ping
bttt!
weepy ping
Dear little child, it’s wonderful that the people at Fort Hood were so kind to him.
But I’m not surprised. When my son (now 14 and huge) was only 7, he sent an email to the public relations department at Fort Hood asking what he had to do before they’d issue him an M1A2 Abrams. When they figured out they were talking to a child, rather than a brain-damaged potential recruit, they were extremely kind, writing back that he would have to study hard and do well in his classes first.
In a week he wrote back saying, “I got a A on my speling test can I have a tank now.” Again they were very gentle with him—I apologized to them when I found out he’d been bothering them, and they cheerfully told me that they all had kids too, so not to worry.
Oh, and the best part—they sent him a shoulder patch from the First Cav, which he still has and cherishes.
Blackhawk helicopter crew chief Spc. Andrew Ramsdell shows Gaven Cox a Blackhawk cockpit before installing a booster seat on Thursday March 20
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