Surprise reunion: Military dad greets children at school after being away for months

KETTERING — A military father went to two different schools to surprise his children on Thursday afternoon.

As reported on News Center 7 at 5, Jacob Turner spent seven months away from his family at Army basic training.

Turner kicked off the surprise at Oakview Elementary School to surprise his daughter Maddisyn, and then over to his son Colton at Van Buren Middle School.

While Turner was away, he had little communication with his family.

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“I was in BCT and AIT— have been going through my training for like last six, seven months,” Turner said. “In about two weeks we’ll be going to Texas and I’ll be going there for about a year and then headed to Poland.”

This is something military families often deal with. It’s just one of the reasons Principal Matthew Salyer said putting this surprise together for them was special.

“Its always difficult for our students who may not have a parent in the home for various reasons,” Salyer said. “To be able to reunite them, after that it was great.”

Turner said even though it was nerve-wracking...

“Being able to be home with my family means more than I can ever say. They are what keeps me going and what kept me going through my whole army career,” Turner said.

Turner said he is going to soak up these next two weeks at home with all of his family before they make their next move.

We will continue updating this story.

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