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HILL AIR FORCE BASE — When you look around the Museum at Hill Air Force base, you'll find pieces of the past.
"Most of the time I like to learn about Air Force because my grandpa was in the Air Force," Brandon said.
Brandon doesn't just like learning about life in the Air Force, the 15-year-old wants to join. He wants somewhere to belong. On Wednesday, he got to pick the brain of someone who knows all about that.
"Just getting a pilot to come take me around places and see all of it," Brandon said.
Not just any pilot; an F-16 pilot.
Brandon is still dealing with his difficult past.
"I was 7 years old when I got taken away from my mom, so that wasn't fun," he said.
It turned his world upside down and continues to do so.
"We got to visit for a few more times and then I never really got to see her anymore because what she's going through," he said.
For the past few months, he's lived in a group home and before that, lots of moving.
"Yeah, probably 12 or 13 times," he said.
He wants all that moving to finally stop. He wants to be adopted and have something that most kids take for granted.
"I'd rather have a last name than none," he said.
A last name, something else that means you belong.
On Wednesday, he got a little taste of what it means to belong thanks to an F-16 pilot who showed him around and left him with a parting gift.
"This was our combat patch that we all wore while we were in Afghanistan," the pilot said as he handed Brandon the gift. "I want you to have this. You're one of us now."
At Hill Air Force Museum, you find pieces of the past, but on Wednesday, you'll also find a boy with hope for a better future.
"I don't care as long as I get a family," he said.
To learn more about Brandon or the many other children who live in the Utah foster care system, contact The Adoption Exchange at 801-265-0444.
