{"id":10644,"date":"2025-07-02T17:05:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T17:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=10644"},"modified":"2025-07-02T17:17:32","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T17:17:32","slug":"wings-of-hope-a-special-pilot-experience-for-two-young-cancer-fighters-at-the-175th-wing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2025\/07\/02\/wings-of-hope-a-special-pilot-experience-for-two-young-cancer-fighters-at-the-175th-wing\/","title":{"rendered":"Wings of Hope: A Special Pilot Experience for Two Young Cancer Fighters at the 175th Wing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

By Airman 1st Class Sarah Hoover<\/p>\n

175th Wing<\/p>\n

\"\"

Elena LeMoine, an honorary Pilot for a Day, sits in front of a Maryland Air National Guard A-10C Thunderbolt II static display at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport, Maryland, June 7, 2025. LeMoine and her family attended “Pilot For a Day,” facilitated by the Gold in Fight Foundation, which invites children and families from the local community who have catastrophic illnesses to spend the day with pilots. (U.S. Air National Guard Photo by Staff Sgt. Laura Virtue)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

MIDDLE RIVER, Md. — <\/strong>The Maryland Air National Guard\u2019s 104th Fighter Squadron hosted two children as honorary pilots as part of the Pilot for a Day program at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport, June 7, 2025.<\/p>\n

The Pilot for a Day program, facilitated by the Gold in Fight Foundation, invites children and families from the local community who have catastrophic illnesses to receive their own flight gear and have the chance to spend the day with pilots. The two children honored were Maverick Bell and Elena LeMoine.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Maryland Air National Guard Capt. Carson Miller (middle-left), an A-10C Thunderbolt ll pilot assigned to the 104th Fighter Squadron, Master Sgt. Jonathan Lorenz (middle-right), avionics technician for the 175th Maintenance Squadron, and Elena LeMoine (left) and Maverick Bell (right), pose for a group photo in front of an A-10C Thunderbolt II static display at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport, Maryland, June 7, 2025. (U.S. Air National Guard Photo by Staff Sgt. Laura Virtue)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cSpending the day with these amazing kids and their families, seeing the smiles on their faces and the excitement in their eyes is something I will forever look back on,\u201d said Maryland Air National Guard Capt. Carson Miller, an A-10C Thunderbolt II pilot assigned to the 104th Fighter Squadron.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Miller, along with Maryland Air National Guard Lt. Col. Daniel Griffin, another pilot for the squadron, conducted the event for the families to enjoy throughout the day, with support from members of the 175th Maintenance Squadron and 175th Operations Support Squadron.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an amazing day, with amazing people and amazing hearts,\u201d said Angelina Broseker, Maverick\u2019s mother. \u201cWe thank you and will forever remember this day!\u201d<\/p>\n

Maverick, age five, an energetic older brother, pre-k student, and multi-sport athlete, was diagnosed with Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (EMRS) in 2023. He and his family have endured countless hospital visits consisting of biopsies, CAT scans, MRIs, X-rays, a spinal tap, and more, contributing to an unimaginable journey battling childhood cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"

Maryland Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Daniel Roriguez (left), a crew chief assigned to the 175th Maintenance Squadron, shows Maverick Bell (right) an A-10C Thunderbolt II static display at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport, Maryland, June 7, 2025. (U.S. Air National Guard Photo by Staff Sgt. Laura Virtue)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cMaverick\u2019s resilience and determination gave him the name of \u2018Mighty Maverick,\u2019 that was well known around the hospital hallways anywhere he visited,\u201d said Broseker. \u201cThis real-life superhero put a smile on everyone\u2019s face and remained the heartfelt kid he always was prior.\u201d<\/p>\n

In October of 2024, Maverick completed his chemo treatments and is now approaching nine months cancer-free.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think it’s amazing that you guys gave your time today and everyone was so kind and generous,\u201d said Nga LeMoine, Elena\u2019s mother. \u201cThis is a memory they will never forget.”<\/p>\n

Elena, age 10, was diagnosed with Ewing\u2019s sarcoma, a rare pediatric cancer, when she was just four years old. She has experienced 14 rounds of chemotherapy, multiple surgeries and at least 10 rounds of radiation therapy at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and has also participated in experimental progressive treatment options with other centers.<\/p>\n

After a long journey, Elena reached her five-year anniversary of being marked with no evidence of disease.<\/p>\n

After a big and exciting day with the chance to don their flight suits and hang out on the flight line, the kids’ favorite parts were meeting the pilots and testing out the A-10 flight simulator, which gave them the chance to truly be a pilot for a day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was without a doubt the most meaningful day of my career and being able to support these kids and the foundation is something I will always cherish,\u201d said Miller. \u201cElena and Maverick are fighters, and I know the strength of them and their families have inspired every person in the squadron.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Airman 1st Class Sarah Hoover 175th Wing MIDDLE RIVER, Md. — The Maryland Air National Guard\u2019s 104th Fighter Squadron hosted two children as honorary pilots as part of the Pilot for a Day program at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport, June 7, 2025. The Pilot for a Day program, facilitated  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":10648,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10644"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10658,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10644\/revisions\/10658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}