DVIDS – News – LA Fleet Week 2022 Make-A-Want Go to

San Pedro, Calif. (Could 29, 2022) – Within the early morning because the solar rose, a metal customer to the town solid a protracted, cool shadow over the outer harbor of San Pedro, California. The big Navy vessel, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship named USS Portland (LPD 27), left mouths agape because it towered over guests throughout this yr’s Los Angeles Fleet Week (LAFW). In the meantime, six-year-old Sebastian Medina toured the ship below extraordinary circumstances for a very unforgettable Memorial Day weekend.

When Sebastian was solely eight months previous, his mother and father observed he was having problem along with his imaginative and prescient. Sebastian was rapidly identified with malignant pilocytic astrocytoma, which meant a tumor deemed inoperable was urgent on his optic nerve. By the point he was two, he would start numerous remedies to scale back the tumor which couldn’t be surgically eliminated.

Sebastian’s father, Jerry Stoces, a personal contractor, stated Sebastian is now in remission, however continues to have an implant in his arm to steadiness hormone ranges and common physician visits to trace updates in his imaginative and prescient.

Throughout Sebastian’s remedy, Stoces turned concerned with the Make-A-Want basis by organizing journeys for different households and solely just lately acquired the possibility to be on the opposite aspect of the equation. Sadly, Sebastian’s want to see America’s Navy first hand was constantly postponed because of the pandemic. However by the workplace of San Pedro Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles Fleet Week Basis, Sebastian’s want got here true this week throughout LAFW 2022.

Now simply shy of 4-feet tall with an infectious smile and carrying a miniature flight swimsuit good for the event, Sebastian stepped aboard the Portland along with his household, Saturday, Could 28, 2022.

Commanding officer of the USS Portland, Capt. Matthew Thomas, greeted Sebastian on the quarterdeck with a crew thrilled to have such a particular visitor.

“It was an honor to have Sebastian aboard USS Portland,” stated Thomas. “A day that we’ll lengthy keep in mind. Thanks, Sebastian, for selecting to spend your day with us.”

A warship constructed to move Sailors and Marines throughout the ocean could be an amazing place for an grownup, however as soon as Sebastian stepped out onto the flight deck and met the unofficial mascot, “Wiley” the scarecrow coyote, he regained his regular inquisitive nature and had a number of questions for the crew.

“From the second Sebastian got here aboard and saluted the captain, his glowing smile brightened up the whole crew,” stated Lt.j.g. Dory Lustig. “It was a wonderful and magical expertise to be a baby’s hero. He’ll ceaselessly be our shipmate.”

However his ship go to wasn’t the tip of his want. On Sunday, Could 29, Sebastian acquired a totally unparalleled Fleet Week expertise as he and his household, alongside along with his greatest buddy, Joseph Park, visited the Battleship USS Iowa Museum and the entire army models staged round it throughout the annual expo that resumed this yr.

Starting with a personal tour of the Iowa led by the museum’s CEO and LAFW Basis President Jonathan Williams, Sebastian noticed a number of unique reveals on the ship together with the presidential cabin utilized by Franklin D. Roosevelt in World Warfare II and climbed contained in the ship’s Quantity One 16-inch gun turret.

“I hope Sebastian’s go to to Battleship Iowa conjures up him to proceed dreaming,” stated Williams. “When he earns his Navy wings sooner or later, 15 or so years down the street, I hope he comes again to share his story with the following era of children touring the Iowa.”

As he traveled round the remainder of the expo, Sebastian met with personnel from the Army, Marine Corps, and Navy, together with the 2916 Aviation Battalion, Los Angeles Recruiting Battalion, Marine Mild Assault Helicopter Coaching Squadron 303, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 164, Amphibious Development Battalion One, and Maritime Expeditionary Safety Group One. Every cease on his tour gave him the chance to speak with pilots, boat operators, and gear operators, hop inside their autos and even function a remote-controlled ordnance disposal robotic.

The Army’s recruiting trailer with state-of-the-art simulators and VR headsets was an enormous hit for Sebastian and Joseph, however their private favourite was the Navy divers of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Cellular Unit Three.

“It was really an honor to satisfy Sebastian and his household at the moment,” stated Navy Diver 2nd Class Petty Officer Kaiden Silva. “Having the chance to present again to somebody as sturdy and courageous as he’s, makes me proud to be a Navy Diver. It’s wonderful individuals like Sebastian that we’re on the lookout for to turn out to be the following era of Navy Deep Sea Divers.”

On the diving exhibit, they have been in a position to make use of a particular underwater radio system to speak to Silva and later his shipmate Navy Diver 2nd Class Petty Officer Chase Marini. As a part of the expo, the divers have been suited up in SCBA gear and engaged the group from inside a tank filled with water. Sebastian and Joseph performed tic-tac-toe on a panel of glass with each Silva and Marini at totally different occasions of the day. The boys visited the Navy divers on their method in to the expo, and made it their closing cease earlier than a late lunch with their households.

“We take every day and attempt to pull each little bit of magnificence in life out of it. That’s the way in which we raised Sebastian, and the way in which we proceed to reside our lives,” stated Stoces, on the finish of a exceptional afternoon. “I’m proud that our Navy placed on such an incredible occasion, and that each individual could be part of it, can exit and meet their army service members. This morning Sebastian stated he needed to be a Navy pilot, however on the experience residence it appeared like he modified his thoughts to Navy diver.”

Fleet Week is an annual, multi-day celebration of our nation’s Sea Providers held on the LA Waterfront on the Port of Los Angeles over the Memorial Day Weekend. Free to the general public, the occasion options public ship excursions, army shows and gear demonstrations, reside leisure, plane flyovers, and a Galley Wars culinary cook-off competitors between Navy, Army, Marine and Coastguard groups. The occasion is Could 24-30.