“Our daughter was born 10 years ago about 6 1/2 months into a 15-month deployment to Iraq. Through Operation Home Front, I was able to surprise and share our first Ultrasound with my deployed husband on the Good Morning America show. That’s when he found out we were having a daughter. During her 10 years she has endured many more long deployments and separations. She loves watching the YouTube videos of service men and women returning home and surprising their families. She has said so many times, “I wish my Papa would do that one day, I miss him”. So, after all the time apart and a yearlong unaccompanied tour to Korea, her Papa is retiring and wanted to grant her the long time wish of a surprise. My daughter and I moved ahead to our retirement home and brand-new community that we have grown to love already. With the help of our church and many friends and family we planned her Sunday morning surprise. The letter being read is one that he wrote to her. He has always told her when he left, “I’ll always come back to you”. He had that added to a painting he had made of the two of them and recently mailed to her for her birthday. It was extremely difficult to keep the return as a surprise as she counts the days until he gets home but he managed to pull it off. This video sums up her relationship with her Papa and brings to an end over 22 1/2 years of service and NO MORE DEPLOYMENTS!” –Kim F.
