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A
Proud Son with the Hobbico Avistar RTF
trainer the Cen-Tex Modelers
donated in honor of his father who was
killed in Iraq.
The Cen-Tex
Modelers is a small club located near Fort
Hood, Texas, that has many active and
retired military members. Every club member
who has deployed has returned home safely,
but the members are occasionally touched by
a family's loss.
A military father* stationed at Fort Hood was deployed
to Iraq. He wrote a letter to tell his
children—an 8-year-old boy and an 11-year-old
girl—that they would learn to fly RC models
upon his return. In early April 2006 he was
killed in action before he could return and
keep his promise.
CW4 Clayton Mahalite Sr., a Cen-Tex club and AMA
member, was assigned as a Casualty
Assistance Officer (CAO). These soldiers
assist surviving family members of deceased
soldiers through official notification and
the memorial/funeral services, and they help
prepare and submit claims to various
agencies for benefits.
Clayton began flying
model airplanes in the 1980s, and after a
long break he re-entered the hobby with his
son approximately five years ago. When
Clayton learned through the children's
mother of the letter their father wrote to
them, he immediately began working toward
making that father's wish come true.
Clayton
contacted AMA to request that the kids be
included on his membership as Junior
members, but AMA offered the memberships and
MA magazine to the family at no cost.
Shortly thereafter, Clayton approached Cen-Tex
President John Eyre and asked if the club
would be willing to donate memberships to
the family. John immediately said yes and
arranged to have Clayton brief the club at a
monthly meeting.
At the time of the meeting
Clayton had purchased the model and engine,
and the kids' mother had purchased the
radio. With all the equipment installed,
they were ready to begin flight training.
Lynn Kelch made a motion at the meeting to
reimburse Clayton and the children's mother
for their purchases, and it passed
unanimously.
The children have begun flight
training with Clayton as their instructor.
Club members who live near the kids offer to
ferry them to and from the flying site. The
American hero's promise will be kept. MA
Cen-Tex club member and US Army CAO Clayton
Mahalite Sr. instructs
while the mother observes in the background.
—Jim
Rice
District VIII Vice President
* Family
members' names have been omitted by their
request for the sake of privacy.
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