When Mason found out his date to return home from Afghanistan, he reached out to his neighbor for help in orchestrating the surprise of his father, sister, and mother at their places of work. Scott Kelly writes on his website Man Cave Zen:
“I had the honor today of helping the kid next door surprise his dad, sister, and mom by returning early from Afghanistan and showing up at their offices in Phoenix, AZ where we live. Watch their reaction and you can get a glimpse of what we fight for when we go off to war.
Mason and I planned this surprise for weeks.
Mason has been on this Afghanistan combat tour and mobilization/demobilization for the past year. They’ve always been a very tight family.
I’ve lived next door to them for many years and we all hang out together almost every night. Since I’m at their house almost every day, it was hard to keep it a secret when they were planning on surprising him when he got back. The tables were turned, however.
I went to his unit this morning and waited along with the other families until the buses rolled up. After a quick formation, they were dismissed (first time I ever saw that happen). You could feel the sense of relief and the happiness as that command was given and all the Soldiers ran into the crowd, looking for their family.
He and I then drove up to his father’s work, talking non-stop along the way about both our tours in Afghanistan, and about my son who’s now back there on his second tour. I remember the first time I came back from war and it was quite something to see that experience from the outside looking in.”
Here’s his father’s reaction…tissues will be needed:
Surprising his sister:
And last, but not least, Mason’s mom:
CREDITS: Scott Kelly on YouTube
