Army Rangers Grant Child's Wish

[Team Infidel]

Feb 23, 2007
BY Paula Smith
Fourteen-year-old Riley Woina, who has cystic fibrosis, had his dream of being an Army Ranger come true this week thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the 6th Ranger Training Battalion, Ranger Training Brigade, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fl.



EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fl. (Army News Service, Feb. 23, 2007) - For Army Rangers, soldiering is a way of life. For 14-year-old Riley Woina, who has cystic fibrosis, "rangering" is a dream come true.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation and the 6th Ranger Training Battalion, Ranger Training Brigade, made Woina's dream come true here this week.

"I wanted to train with the Army Rangers because they are heroes and their motto is to 'leave no one behind,'" Woina said after completing a full day of training with the 6th Rangers Training Bn.

Dressed in a military flight suit with Army and Air Force insignia, Woina flew in a C-130 aircraft, observed an airborne jump, sat in an Air Force fighter jet and experienced a training flight in a UH-1V Huey provided by the U.S. Army Air Ambulance Detachment, 5th Aviation Battalion of Fort Polk, La.

Woina's Ranger experience also allowed him to negotiate a Zodiac boat along a river, cross a river on a one-rope bridge, conduct a swamp movement, participate in snake and rappelling demonstrations, and enjoy tours of Eglin Air Force Base and the Air Force Armament Museum.

Woina's skill and inner strength inspired the Rangers who had the opportunity to train him.

"When you've been in the Army for a long time, you forget what it feels like when you first join. I will never forget the look on Riley's face as he got off the helicopter, or when he conducted a rope-bridge crossing with the other Ranger students cheering him on," said Capt. Jeremiah Cordovano, 6th Ranger Training Bn.

Riley, of Plymouth, Conn., will travel to Fort Benning, Ga., next week, where he will stand alongside the Rangers he admires to participate in the U.S. Army Ranger School graduation ceremony.

The 6th Ranger Training Bn. conducts the final phase of the U.S. Army Ranger School, whose primary mission is to train Rangers who are flexible and adaptive combat leaders.

"I can't believe the time and effort that you guys (6th Ranger Training Bn.) have put into this," the boy's father, Gary, told the Soldiers. "Riley will never forget this experience."

 

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True heroes ask for nothing in return. What a shame that this great American will never get to live a normal life. But at least he was able to take part of a dream. The folks in the US Armed Forces are truely heroes. They do what they do because they love this great Nation and it's people.

I remember awhile back that another child from the Make-A-Wish Foundation wanted to be in the US Army. So the DoD made him a Staff Sgt and he went to Fort Benning Ga to try out Infantry School and such.

 

[AJChenMPH]

That's a great story. Make-a-Wish even made a kid POTUS for a day about a year ago. Gave him his own USSS detail, brought him to our Ops Center (I think we have the best UNCLASS ops center in government) -- they even took down Dubya's picture in the lobby (next to Cheney's and Leavitt's, our Secretary) and put his up. :lol: