Your Wish to Fly in a Military Jet is Coming True

We were invited to take part in a GREAT assembly this morning at Fort Herriman Middle School. The volunteer Wish Granters (Kelly C. and Debbie O.) worked super hard to keep this a surprise. Krachel, our Communications Manager, arrived wearing a Make-A-Wish hoodie sweatshirt and she was greeted with a "Hey you need to cover that up so he has no idea we're here". Krachel had met a wonderful woman named Brandy in the main office, and since she didn't take a coat to work today she turned to that complete stranger and asked if she could borrow her coat. Brandy, who we learned works for a credit union in Herriman, literally gave Krachel the coat off her own back so Krachel could cover up her sweatshirt. This was a hard surprise to pull off because Tim, our wish kid, is a part of the student council. He was in the auditorium before the rest of the student body was invited in, so Kelly and Debbie nicely asked Tim's parents and grandmother to hide in the back so Tim wouldn't see them. Tim's mom, who is a former BYU basketball player, definitely stands out in a middle school crowd but she was very nice to wear a hat and duck her head so Tim wouldn't ever notice her. After the students filed in then Mom, Dad and Grandma made their way to the 2nd row and took their seats.

The assembly started; the students sang the national anthem and did the pledge of allegiance, then the principal introduced Col. Samuel H. Ramsay of the Utah Air National Guard. He spoke about the importance of math, English, history – explained that he does math every single time he flies his plane. He needs English skills to be able to communicate – and reviews notes from those who have gone before him so history is very important. Then he said, “But that’s not why I’m here today”.


He explained that he wanted to talk about a warrior at the school, someone who has been through a lot. He invited Tim to the stage and then presented him with a hat, polo shirt, bomber jacket and flight suit. (scroll to the bottom of the blog and pause the music so you can hear the video)


Then he said, “Well we got you all suited, now we need a jet”
(scroll to the bottom of the blog and pause the music so you can hear the video)

Congratulations Tim. Hope you have a blast on the day your wish takes to the skies!