“Rise and shine, Evan! Today, you and your family will need to arrive at Naval Air Station Fallon no later than 0730. Fleet training demonstration begins at 0800,” stated Evan’s newly-minted military itinerary.

His wish to go to Top Gun was about to come true. Evan is a big fan of the movie “Top Gun” - he has been watching the movie since the age of two with his older brothers. When gazing out the car window at the airplanes near his home, he always wants to reach out and touch them. Five-year-old Evan’s life threatening medical condition isn’t going to stop him though: his goal in life is to become a Top Gun pilot, and he considers this wish his first step on that path.

This past December, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Eastern North Carolina along with assistance from Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northern Nevada, was able to fulfill his wish of going to Top Gun school. Evan and his family traveled to the Naval Strike and Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada to experience life as a Top Gun.

Although Evan’s wish was simple, the trip was completely magical for everyone involved. He enjoyed a tour of the entire facility including a VIP tour of the flight line by a real flight instructor, Major Chip Berke, who took him through a day in the life of a Top Gun. With the guidance and friendship of Major Berke, Evan lived, ate and played among his fellow Top Gun comrades in his two days on the base.

Dressed in a flight suit, boots, and mask, Evan felt right at home at the naval base. And it’s no wonder; as Major Berke put it, “There were so many volunteers to help escort Evan and his family, but I was fortunate to get the job. Evan tells me that I work for him. He even asked to be taken back to ‘his office’ a few times after leaving Base Admiral Matt Moffit’s desk.”

Evan and his family then attended the Top Gun graduation ceremony where he was presented with an Honorary Top Gun certificate of graduation by the admiral himself.

Congressman Jim Gibbons, who attended the reception, arranged for a flag to be flown over the Capitol in Washington D.C., in honor of Evan. The flag was then given to Evan on his birthday. “Evan takes after my own heart”, states the congressman, “he likes fast cars, fast airplanes, and he knows what he wants to be when he grows up.”

Evan and his family flew back to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where his father is a major in the Army, but not without touching the lives of everyone on the Naval base and creating memories to last a lifetime.