[Vision2020] A (Green) Dream Come True

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the Army Times.

 

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A green dream come 

 

Fort Polk soldiers give cancer-stricken boy a birthday surprise

 

 

Doctors told Brennan Daigle last month that he had weeks to live. He told
his mom he hoped to meet soldiers before he grew too sick.

 

In late February, a platoon of soldiers sur-prised Brennan at his 10th
birthday party, yelling "Happy birthday" in unison with hundreds of other
guests and swearing him in as an honorary Army member, Army offi-cials said
in a news release.

 

Brennan, who has been battling cancer for nearly two years, was shocked.

 

"All he could do was giggle," his mother, Kristy Daigle, said in the
release.

 

Officials at Fort Polk, La., requested a few soldiers from local units
attend the party after learning of Brennan's prognosis. Forty soldiers
volunteered, coming from the Louisiana National Guard and Headquar-ters and
Headquarters Company, 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade.

 

Once Brennan's initial shock subsided, he walked across the formation and
shook hands with most of the soldiers and enjoyed a ride in a Humvee before
his induction.

 

During the ceremony, Brennan raised his right hand and Capt. Gabriel Araujo
swore him in, while an American flag hung in the background. Brennan
received a certificate, a military jacket with his first name embroidered on
the pocket and personalized dog tags, one of which was inscribed with the
seven Army values.

 

"You exemplify what personal courage means," Pfc. Kamesha Starkey told
Bren-nan at the ceremony in Sulphur, La., according to the release.

 

Since October 2009, Brennan has been fighting embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, a
rare cancer in which tumors in muscle tis-sue attach themselves to bones.
Chemother-apy treatment did not stop the disease.

 

Kristy Daigle launched "Brennan's Brigade" on Facebook last year to share
photos and update family and friends on his condition. The page has 40,000
fans, includ-ing some deployed soldiers.

 

At the party, Brennan cut a slice of a three-tiered cake decorated with an
Army emblem and accepted many hugs.

 

"Am I really in the Army?" he asked his mother the next day, according to
the release.

 

"They don't just swear in anyone," she said.

 

"That's awesome," he said.

 

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Nine-year-old Brennan Daigle, who has been diagnosed with cancer, is sworn
in as an honorary soldier by Capt. Gabriel Araujo at Sulphur, La., in March.

 

Image_1.jpg

http://armytimes.va.newsmemory.com/newsmemvol2/virginia/armytimes/20110404/0
404_arm_dom_00_006_00.pdf.0/img/Image_1.jpg

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

 

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

 

 

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