Home

Photo Gallery

Family, friends greet Rebekah LaDue

Hayden — Rebekah LaDue expected to see her mother, sister, niece and nephews when she arrived Monday in Hayden.

She didn't expect to see Tyler Johnson.

The 10-year-old came to Yampa Valley Regional Airport with his mother, Shara, and his sister, Tehya, to greet LaDue. The Air Force airman 1st class returned from Iraq, where she had been deployed since August.

While in Iraq, LaDue heard about Tyler Johnson, who lost his feet and parts of some fingers from an illness this past summer. She told her Air Force squadron about Tyler. They all wanted to do something for him, so her squadron commander flew an American flag around Iraq on an F-16 for the Steamboat Springs boy.

"I didn't know you were going to be here," LaDue's mother, Cindy LaDue, said to Shara Johnson. "All I had on the brain was her."

She pointed to her daughter.

Cindy LaDue has arranged to have Tyler ride in a helicopter around Steamboat with the flag this week.

His last helicopter ride took him to Denver for emergency treatment.

Cindy LaDue and another daughter, Sarah Chaney, brought Chaney's three children to YVRA to meet Rebekah on Monday, and several friends joined them. Rebekah met her tiny nephew, Ryle, for the first time. He was born in December.

LaDue will spend two weeks in Hayden and then visit her grandparents in Washington state for a week.

From there, she'll return to her base in Honolulu, her mother said.

As they waited, Assistant Airport Manager Dean Smith tried to figure out which plane LaDue and her boyfriend were on.

Her mother and sister didn't know the flight number or airline.

He decided it was probably a United Airlines flight that had just landed. The family pressed against a glass door near baggage claim, watching the plane.

"She'll come up to that gate there," Smith said.

"But she'll come through this door, right?" Cindy LaDue asked.

"Yeah," Smith replied. "You aren't excited, are you?"

LaDue let out a ringing laugh and stomped her foot impatiently.

"No," she joked.

Smith allowed Cindy LaDue to wait near the plane, holding her nephew Lincoln. Rebekah LaDue climbed down, smiling, and threw her arms around both.

- To reach Blythe Terrell, call 871-4234 or e-mail bterrell@steamboatpilot.com