Luke's Coast Guard Wish: Once a Guardian, Always a Guardian

When 11-year-old Luke visited A Wishing Place this summer to declare his wish, he knew what he wanted to wish for. He made his wish official when he declared in the wishing room that he wished to serve in the Coast Guard.

As the person who schedules and coordinates the travel wishes for Utah wish children and their families, I had no idea where to even begin. I’ve never had a wish request as unique as this before, and I had some big steps to take to ensure that Luke’s wish would come true.

I reached out to my colleagues around the country and asked if anyone could point me in the right direction. I got a good lead – a great lead, in fact – and after a handful of phone calls, I was connected with Lt. Eric Wilson of the US Coast Guard.

Lt. Wilson was wonderful – he jumped in headfirst to help me make Luke’s wish come true. He connected me with several US Coast guard men and women, all of whom were excited to be a part of making Luke’s wish come true. Each of these men and women wanted to know Luke personally to ensure that they could give him the wish of his dreams when he traveled to serve with them. They all pitched in to plan every single detail of Luke’s time with them – details like displaying Luke’s name, serving Luke’s favorite foods, and allowing Luke to participate in many activities with Coast Guard officers.

I have never worked with so many people to coordinate a wish experience – between the doctor, the social worker, Luke’s family, the volunteers, the many Coast Guard officers, the military clearances, and the assisting chapter, we had dozens of us working on one wish. Boy, did it pay off.

Luke traveled to Alabama this week to have his wish granted. He was greeted at the airport by Coast Guard officers, Azalea trail maids, and the University of Mobile Ram Corps! That was only the beginning of a very special wish.

Over the next few days, Luke would have the opportunity to train in the pool with Coast Guard officers, to fly in a flight simulator, to go through weapons training, and to lead his own rescue operation – complete with a descent into Mobile Bay from a helicopter!

I personally was very touched by this entire wish process. Seeing a community across the country come together for a Utah boy was such an emotional experience. The US Coast Guard was absolutely phenomenal, and the volunteers from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Georgia & Alabama were wonderful to work with. This will go down in history as one of my very favorite wishes.

When I thanked the men and women who helped make this wish come true, I received a touching response from the man who was responsible for starting it all – Lt. Eric Wilson. Here is an excerpt:

The Coast Guard Creed, the Guardian Ethos, and the Coast Guard core values are ideas that make up the foundation of our service. These fundamental values are instilled in all Coast Guard personnel from day one. These values come to life and form the nucleus of our service because they are shared within each of our members. Luke was already a part of our service. He already embodied the Coast Guard core values; he already believed in the Coast Guardsman Creed; and he already lived by our Guardian Ethos. He wanted to protect, defend, and save those in need. He wanted to do this unselfishly with honor, respect, and a devotion to his duty. Luke was already a Guardian. ATC Mobile did not host a guest or merely grant a wish, rather, we welcomed a fellow Guardian home. 

-Jenny, Wish Coordinator