Soldiers make deathly ill boy’s dream come true — by making him one of their own

A little 8-year-old boy battling a rare disorder had but one dream in his young life — to become a member of the military.

That dream became a reality on Friday for Rowan Windham, when he was made an honorary member of the Texas National Guard during a special enlistment ceremony, KHOU reported.

Rowan has spent about a third of his life in hospitals, undergoing 71 operations and dozens of blood transfusions in his fight against Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome, which affects his pancreas, gastro-intestinal tract, immune system, blood and bone marrow.

Shwachman Diamond Syndrome does respond to aggressive treatment, but mortalities have been reported according to MyBreathingJourney.com. Even if it is cured, a feature of the disease may last a lifetime.

Despite all that he’s gone through, he always kept his dream alive. The surprise ceremony at Camp Mabry in Austin was enthusiastically attended by hundreds of national guardsmen and women — Rowan’s new comrades-in-arms.

“We’re going to invite him to be an honorary soldier and have over 21,000 airmen and soldiers in his family now,” Brig. Gen. Sean Ryan told the station while displaying a huge grin.

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