Members of the New York National Guard welcomed a new “recruit” to the Army National Guard when they fulfilled the dream of nine year old Jacob Kaminski, a local boy battling Leukemia.
Jacob was surprised by his family with a day-long visit with the New York National Guard as the state’s “Soldier for a Day.”
The event was arranged, in part, by New York Army National Guard Sgt. Mathew Starr, assigned to the Joint Forces Headquarters staff and a long-time fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Starr, a marathon runner, completed a fundraising run at the Rock’n’Roll Marathon in San Diego in May, where he met Theresa Petrone, the Campaign Manager from the Upstate New York/Vermont Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
“In August she (Petrone) approached me about Jake, who was the Chapter’s Boy of the Year, and asked if I would be able to assist in any way to make Jake’s dream of being a “Soldier for a Day” a reality,” Starr explained. “I immediately presented the idea to the Chief of Staff, and here we are!”
Staff Sgt. Starr has run four marathons as part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training since 2007, raising more than $10,000 towards research for treatments and to assist families with medical costs.
Jacob’s battle with cancer began at age four in May of 2004. After months of bone pain, fevers and a long illness. Jacob was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. After three and a half years of chemotherapy, spinal taps and numerous stays in the hospital, Jake’s cancer went into remission and he completed his last day of chemotherapy in August of 2007.
He became a normal, healthy 7 year old and even went on to a perfect second grade attendance in elementary school.
In December of 2008, Jacob learned after an oncology visit that his leukemia had returned. One week after his 9th birthday Jacob once again had to endure chemotherapy, now at a much higher dose to help him once again gain control over this disease.
“We did have a lot of treatments,” Dawn Kaminski, Jake’s mother, said, “We were in the hospital a lot, every weekend for seven weeks.” The family is again thankful that Jake’s cancer is back in remission.
The Kaminski family kept the day’s events for Jake a surprise, by telling him he was on his way to have blood drawn for testing. “That surprised look on his face this morning was well worth it,” Dawn Kaminski said.
Jake’s day began with a meeting with New York State’s Director of Recruiting, Lt. Col. Robert Hawthorne. Hawthorne reviewed all the military skills and specialties for Jake so that he might choose his Military Occupational Specialty, or MOS. Jake selected 19D, or cavalry scout.
Before heading off for a full day of training, Jake met with Army Maj. Gen. Joseph J. Taluto, the adjutant general of the New York National Guard.
“In our Army, we have a slogan to be Army Strong,” Taluto told Jacob, “but that means both physically strong and mentally strong.
“You already know how important it is to be physically strong,” Taluto explained, “and I want you to know that it is just as important for you to remain mentally strong; have the right attitude and you can accomplish any mission.”
The day-long training for Jake included a tour of the New York National Guard’s Joint Operations Center where “Private” Kaminski learned about his important part in domestic operations, viewing photos of recent New York National Guard response missions for floods, wildfires and blizzards in past years.
Then Jake met with Soldiers from the Joint Force Headquarters for an orientation with Army National Guard weapons and a try at the Beamhit Marksmanship Training System.
After a lunch of sandwiches (Meals, Ready-to-Eat were provided but noticeably packed away for another day), it was off to the motor pool for familiarization with an array of National Guard vehicles, including humvees, uparmored humvees, an armored security vehicle and the family of medium tactical vehicles.
Soldiers from the Organizational Maintenance Shop (OMS) all participated and took turns giving Jake an individual vehicle orientation.
“To have this, and all of these people just showering him with attention and affection and everything is just overwhelming,” Dawn Kaminski said.
“I think everyone, from the family to the participants, were completely blown away by the pouring out of gifts from all the key players and the reaction of the family to each different event,” Starr said. “It takes a lot to amaze me and I was completely amazed.”
From the motor pool, Jake was taken to the Army Aviation Support Facility where aircrews and maintenance Soldiers provided Jake with a simulated flight mission, fitting him with aviation survival equipment and tours of the UH-60 and OH-58 aircraft.
To complete his long training day, Jake and his family then travelled to the nearby Scotia Air National Guard Base where Jake received an orientation of the 109th Airlift Wing’s LC-130 aircraft. The airlift wing provided Jake with a brief aircrew mission, even placing his name onto one of the aircraft on the tarmac to reflect Jake’s important role as a crewmember.
He then visited the Army National Guard’s 501st Ordnance Company (EOD) to familiarize himself with the capabilities of the unit’s robots that remotely detect and disarm explosive devices.
“Unless you are around people who are going through stuff like this, you never really know what they’re going through,” Starr said. “To be able to distract him like this for a day is great. “It makes you cry, it melts your heart.”
