HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — A few units with the 75th Air Base Wing opened their doors for seven children and their families from Make-A-Wish Utah during a base visit Oct. 11.
The families started their day with a military working dog demonstration from 75th Security Forces Squadron. The next stop was the base’s newest fire station to meet with 775th Civil Engineering Squadron’s firefighters where they learned about the different fire trucks and firefighting equipment.
After lunch at the base’s golf course, the group visited 775th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight where they received the opportunity to control the EOD robots.
“Today’s visit made me speechless, that the base took some time out of their busy schedule to show these kids what they do and some really cool stuff. It was an amazing opportunity for them,” said Jenny Hortin, volunteer manager for Make-A-Wish Utah.
According to their website http://utah.wish.org, Make-A-Wish grants a wish every 34 minutes for a child diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition.
Hortin said this base visit was for children who are in the Make-A-Wish ‘pipeline,’ meaning they are waiting for their wish to happen or they have just returned from their wish.
“Parents are looking to give the children a little bit of excitement away from the doctors and treatment; and to others this might be a regular outing but to these kids it is 10 times more special and has even that much more of an impact,” said Hortin.
Senior Airman James Boswell, 75th Logistics Readiness Squadron, who organized this visit as well as a previous visit in May with the 388th Fighter Wing, said he enjoys the opportunity to get involved with the organization giving the children a special day for them to remember always.
“To see the families and kids happy with the joy the visit brought them, I’m happy knowing I had a hand in making their day brighter,” said Boswell.
The day ended with cheers and a bang when EOD demonstrated a controlled detonation for the group.
“I loved it, everything was overwhelming and amazing. When I’m older, I want to join the Air Force,” said Michelle McConnell, one of the children from Make-A-Wish Utah.
