The young man pressured by his high school to remove the American flag from his truck surely knew his choice had irrevocable consequences either way.
However, at the moment, he probably had no idea the good things that would follow once he made up his mind to stand his ground.
It turned out that 17-year-old Cameron Blasek’s stance became a national story that garnered him widespread support, including a sweet new custom American flag wrap for the offending Dodge pickup, free of charge.
It also became a means by which he could provide some comfort to a family that would not have been possible had he buckled under the pressure from officials at East Central High School in St. Leon, Indiana.
His mother wrote a lengthy Facebook post on April 10 explaining the good Blasek was able to accomplish with his truck — helping lay to rest a 13-year-old boy who died of cancer.
“Since my kids were little, I have told them, ‘Everything happens for a reason,’” Heidi Jo Jackson-Blasek wrote.
On April 4, she said, “Cameron received a message from a stranger in Hollis, Oklahoma, asking for a favor.”
“I believe God had a hand in all those little things that worked up to this purpose,” the teen’s mother wrote. “Today, a little boy, 13 years old, will be laid to rest. He had fought a battle no child should ever have to fight since he was two and a half years old. Cancer. Now, we did not know this family or anyone from Oklahoma, but God brought us together.”
And where did Blasek come in?
His mother said the 13-year-old boy, whose name was Jaxon, wanted “to be taken to his final resting place in the flag truck.”
Thus, she said, Blasek “headed to Oklahoma on Monday and will be there to support his family and make Jaxons wish come true. Jaxon will be carried to his final resting place by Cameron’s truck and followed by other trucks to show their support.”
WXIX-TV in Cincinnati covered the story on April 16, first reminding viewers of the background of Blasek and his truck.
“Well, a family in Oklahoma asked him to bring the truck to help lift the spirits of a 13-year-old boy diagnosed with cancer,” anchor Rob Williams said.
The reporter on the scene, Chancelor Winn, expanded on the story, explaining that the 17-year-old had told him that “he received a message one day from a family in Oklahoma, a good 16 hours away from West Harrison, Indiana, where Cameron Blasek actually lives.”
“He tells me that a 13-year-old had just lost a battle with cancer, and now, Blasek was actually going to be driving down there to help honor his life,” Winn said.
Blasek shared the content of the message: “We have a little boy here in Hollis, Oklahoma, who’s 13 years old, who is battling cancer. And they said that he said his final wish was to be taken to his final resting place in the flag truck.”
“Honestly, the first thing that went through my mind was my youngest brother is 14 … and, when I heard that, it just kind of hit me, and from there it was just, you know, I was trying to help out as much as I could,” the Indiana teen told WXIX.
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And he didn’t hesitate to drive 16 hours to help the grieving family and honor the boy’s dying wish, exemplifying the strength of character he hinted at when he initially refused to remove the flag from his truck.
“I never expected any of this from the beginning,” Blasek said. “I mean, all I wanted was to fly the flag on the back of my truck, and I’m happy that’s what I got.”
“But I’m also happy,” he added, “that I’m able to help out other people.”
Indeed, Winn commented in closing that “for Blasek, being there for others is just part of what the American flag symbolizes.”
Which was why he was so adamant about keeping the flag on his truck from the outset.
Though Blasek could not have foreseen how holding his ground could have enabled him to help a grieving family in a unique and powerful way, he probably still would have chosen to do the same regardless.
More so than even the free wrap he got on his truck, this ended up being a huge win for this patriotic kid and an opportunity to fulfill a boy’s final wish.
This would not have been possible had he obeyed school officials and removed his flag.
Who knew what good would come from making a stand on something many other people would have deemed insignificant?
As his mother said in her Facebook post, God had a reason for giving Blasek that choice, and “God does have a purpose whether it is big or small.”
