Local boy becomes pilot for a day

Published Sept. 12, 2013
By Maj. Brent J. Davis
910th airlift Wing Public Affairs

YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- Youngstown Air Reserve Station provided special attention Sept.11 to a young man from Mineral Ridge battling a rare blood disorder during the 910th Airlift Wing's 55th Pilot for a Day program, here.

Burrows, 9, was sworn in as an honorary second lieutenant after the 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs office contacted Akron Children's Hospital Mahoning Valley to find out who would be a good fit for the outreach program that began in June 2000.

Mason was diagnosed with autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome and a disorder called Von Willebrand disease.

Mason's day began when he and his family arrived at the base where Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Jason Montgomery escorted Mason to the 910th Airlift Wing headquarters building in a HUMVEE.

There he was given a pilot's uniform, complete with a personalized embroidered name tag, a 757th Airlift Squadron ascot and personalized dog tags.

910th Maintenance Group Commander Col. David Post swore Mason in as an honorary junior officer. Mason's mother, Christina, and father, Scott, pinned the 2nd Lt. officer rank insignia on his flight suit.

Representing Youngstown Air Reserve Base Community Council (YARBCC), Brig. Gen. (honorary) Fred Kubli, Jr. gave Mason a C-130H Hercules aircraft model with his name printed above the crew door, replicating an aircraft crew chief's name and title. YARBCC has funded the Pilot for a Day program for more than five years.

Next, the group escorted Mason to the operations group command center where he walked among the air crew members and toured the facility.

From there, he and his family were driven to a Youngstown C-130 Hercules aircraft that like Mason's model featured his name and honorary rank stenciled above the door.

The flight crew treated Mason to a high-speed taxi down the runway.

After lunch, Mason was taken to the Marine Corps section of the Navy Operational Support Center where he was allowed to fire training weapons hooked up to CO2 tanks that simulate the feel of firing live ammunition.

For more than 14 years, Youngstown Air Reserve Station has strived to give chronically ill kids a ray of sunshine and a break from their health problems.