Kym Heron and her son, Eric, drove all night from Warner Robins Air Force Base just to meet the Miami Heat.
“It was well worth it,”
said Kym Heron, who retired from Robins’ 5th Combat Communications Group and works as a contractor. “We figured it was a good opportunity to get this close to the team. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Eric Heron, an Army reservist in the 421st Quartermaster Company, said he was a big fan of the Miami Heat.
“I think they’re going to be the best team this year,”
he said.
Staff Sgt, Wendell Bowles brought his wife and three kids to see Dwyane Wade.
“He helped out Miami a lot when he first came,”
Bowles said. “He brought us a championship. With all the charity work he does, he seems like a good guy.”
Bowles was not the only Wade fan in the hangar. The Miami guard was one of the last players to make it through the gauntlet of fans Monday night.
Niceville resident Andre Phillips-Daniels spent his tenth birthday meeting the Heat. He comes from a long line of Heat fans. His mom, retired Master Sergeant Jackie Mitchell, claimed to be the biggest fan. The Miami native had life-size photos of two of the players and championship posters cover a wall of her Florida room.
Phillips-Daniels’ brother, Michael Mitchell, a Bulls fan, said he was there to support an individual player more than the team.
“I’m supporting D Wade because we’re from the same city, Chicago, and I always want LeBron James to succeed,”
Mitchell said.
He said it was a smart move for the team to come to Fort Walton Beach to get away from the media.
“And it’s giving our city some good exposure,”
Mitchell said.
His friend, Daniel Fuentes, was there to meet Mario Chalmers. Both attended Bartlett High School in Anchorage, Alaska.
Thousands waited anxiously for the arrival of the Miami Heat Monday night.
Before retiring for the night at Hurlburt Field’s Soundside Commando Inn, the NBA team shook hands, signed basketballs and graciously posed for photographs with an adoring mob of fans.
The Heat arrived at 10 p.m., about 45 minutes later than expected. Fans, on the other hand, started filing in at around 7 p.m.
The 96th Force Support Squadron offered ball tosses and a free throw contest as the Jaded Klark Band played classics like Soul Man and Locomotion. But the earliest arrivals were glued to their front-row spots along a barricade that surrounded the stage.
Mike Miller wasn’t after any of the Miami players’ autographs. The retired airman had his eye on one of the coaches.
He carried a photo of assistant coach Bob McAdoo back when he played for the Lakers. Miller’s treasured photo of the hall-of-famer was only a shot of his back, seated on the Lakers bench.
He got a new one to treasure Monday night. This time, he posed with the McAdoo.
“And I got him to sign my hat,”
Miller added.
After the team had made their exit and fans were slowly clearing out of the Eglin hangar, Jackie Miller stood in the same spot she had been in for more than three hours. She perused the photos saved on her camera with a grin on her face.
“I got a picture of Pat Riley with me, Dwyane Wade with me, Boss with me,”
listed Mitchell as she viewed the photos.
Jackie Mitchell turned back to the photo of Wade.
“I’m going to treasure this one,”
she said.
