[Vision2020] A (Green) Dream Come True

[lfalen]

Thanks for posting
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "Tom Hansen" thansen at moscow.com
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:20:47 -0700
To: "Moscow Vision 2020" vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] A (Green) Dream Come True

> Courtesy of the Army Times.
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> A green dream come 
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> Fort Polk soldiers give cancer-stricken boy a birthday surprise
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> Brennan, who has been battling cancer for nearly two years, was shocked.
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> "All he could do was giggle," his mother, Kristy Daigle, said in the
> release.
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> "You exemplify what personal courage means," Pfc. Kamesha Starkey told
> Bren-nan at the ceremony in Sulphur, La., according to the release.
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> At the party, Brennan cut a slice of a three-tiered cake decorated with an
> Army emblem and accepted many hugs.
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> "Am I really in the Army?" he asked his mother the next day, according to
> the release.
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> "They don't just swear in anyone," she said.
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> "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.
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> Image_1.jpg
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> 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.
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> Tom Hansen
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> Moscow, Idaho
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