txarngct
04-26-2006, 05:23 PM
TXARNG: Young Boy's Imagination Takes Flight
Tyler inside the pit of a CH47 Chinook.
Photo by Chief MSG Gonda Moncada
By Chief MSG Gonda Moncada
Courtesy of Texas National Guard
4/13/06, Grand Prairie, TX?The Texas Army National Guard on Wednesday did something for a young Stephenville resident that would make the boy?s day an adventure in flight, albeit in an aircraft safely grounded in a big hangar.
Tyler Barron, fifteen-years-old, and suffering from autism, always had a fascination for things that spin according to his mom Sharon. She said: ?When Tyler was very small he would sit on the kitchen floor and spin the lids of pots and pans. He would have two lids spinning at the same time on either side of him,? however, she said, ?this obsession with the Chinook has been going on for about three years. I believe he saw a Chinook for the first time at an air show in Stephenville, and ever since he has been talking about helicopters.?
So Sharon did what any loving mother would do to make her child?s dream come true; she investigated the possibility of her son getting up close and personal with a Chinook and she found the Dallas Area Aviation Support Facility located in Grand Prairie.
Armed with this information she made some phone calls and her son?s adventure was on its way to becoming reality. Tyler, his dad James, mom, grand mother Nell, and four-year-old sister Chloe, drove from Stephenville to the Grand Prairie hangar where the commander, LTC Wayne P. Sinibaldi, welcomed them.
The sight of several Chinooks parked in the hangar, was almost too much excitement for one happy boy. Tyler who usually walks next to his dad with one hand firmly planted on his father?s shoulder forgot the rules and rushed forward leaving his dad to catch up with him.
Tyler circled the aircraft to observe it from all angles as fast as he could. Once seated in the pit with LTC Sinibaldi by his side explaining the instrument panel, he forgot to be anxious about the cramped space and being so high up off the ground.
After the visit inside the aircraft, LTC Sinibaldi invited the boy to his office so he could properly decorate him and proclaim him ?a Soldier in the Army Guard.? When the colonel placed a medal around his neck the child of few words simply beamed with joy and pride.
To make his visit even more memorable, the colonel gave him a flag properly folded and encased in a wooden stand and a helicopter board game. When the visit was over, Tyler simply said: ?Let?s go home to Stephenville.?
On the way back to their vehicle Tyler?s grandmother expressed surprise about the boy?s eagerness to enter the aircraft and be separated from his dad. But, maybe what grandmothers do not know is the power of a dream.
Mom added that aside from his fascination with Chinooks, Tyler is also into repairing and collecting lawn mowers and currently owns about 25. He loves music and plays the piano and guitar, and on special occasions performs in church. Tyler attends Stephenville Jr. high school and has three sisters, Brandi, 21, Brittany, 19, and Chloe.
Check out the Texas National Guard; click here.
Calvin Thomas
DAASF
TX Army National Guard
512 782-6476
Tyler inside the pit of a CH47 Chinook.
Photo by Chief MSG Gonda Moncada
By Chief MSG Gonda Moncada
Courtesy of Texas National Guard
4/13/06, Grand Prairie, TX?The Texas Army National Guard on Wednesday did something for a young Stephenville resident that would make the boy?s day an adventure in flight, albeit in an aircraft safely grounded in a big hangar.
Tyler Barron, fifteen-years-old, and suffering from autism, always had a fascination for things that spin according to his mom Sharon. She said: ?When Tyler was very small he would sit on the kitchen floor and spin the lids of pots and pans. He would have two lids spinning at the same time on either side of him,? however, she said, ?this obsession with the Chinook has been going on for about three years. I believe he saw a Chinook for the first time at an air show in Stephenville, and ever since he has been talking about helicopters.?
So Sharon did what any loving mother would do to make her child?s dream come true; she investigated the possibility of her son getting up close and personal with a Chinook and she found the Dallas Area Aviation Support Facility located in Grand Prairie.
Armed with this information she made some phone calls and her son?s adventure was on its way to becoming reality. Tyler, his dad James, mom, grand mother Nell, and four-year-old sister Chloe, drove from Stephenville to the Grand Prairie hangar where the commander, LTC Wayne P. Sinibaldi, welcomed them.
The sight of several Chinooks parked in the hangar, was almost too much excitement for one happy boy. Tyler who usually walks next to his dad with one hand firmly planted on his father?s shoulder forgot the rules and rushed forward leaving his dad to catch up with him.
Tyler circled the aircraft to observe it from all angles as fast as he could. Once seated in the pit with LTC Sinibaldi by his side explaining the instrument panel, he forgot to be anxious about the cramped space and being so high up off the ground.
After the visit inside the aircraft, LTC Sinibaldi invited the boy to his office so he could properly decorate him and proclaim him ?a Soldier in the Army Guard.? When the colonel placed a medal around his neck the child of few words simply beamed with joy and pride.
To make his visit even more memorable, the colonel gave him a flag properly folded and encased in a wooden stand and a helicopter board game. When the visit was over, Tyler simply said: ?Let?s go home to Stephenville.?
On the way back to their vehicle Tyler?s grandmother expressed surprise about the boy?s eagerness to enter the aircraft and be separated from his dad. But, maybe what grandmothers do not know is the power of a dream.
Mom added that aside from his fascination with Chinooks, Tyler is also into repairing and collecting lawn mowers and currently owns about 25. He loves music and plays the piano and guitar, and on special occasions performs in church. Tyler attends Stephenville Jr. high school and has three sisters, Brandi, 21, Brittany, 19, and Chloe.
Check out the Texas National Guard; click here.
Calvin Thomas
DAASF
TX Army National Guard
512 782-6476