US Army dad surprises son at school

MILLINGTON, Tenn. (WMC) - Many families with loved ones in the military spend the holidays thousands of miles apart, but sometimes, the miles can be crossed!

Holiday cheer can be felt in the halls of Millington Primary School.

Langston Kelly is a first-grader at the school. At the age of three, Langston was diagnosed with Leukemia.

“When you get that diagnosis, it’s kind of hard. Then knowing that the treatment plan is so long. But it definitely brought us closer together as a family,” said Kendra Kelly, Langston’s mom.

He underwent treatments at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Langston’s dad was there for most of the treatments, but earlier this year, he was deployed to Korea with the United States Army.

Langston video-called his dad when he rang the bell, signaling his cancer was in remission.

“With technology, you send the videos, you send the pictures. We send a lot of letters, buy a lot of stamps, because my kids like to send a lot of letters,” said CPT. Travis Kelly, Langston’s dad.

Tuesday, Langston was excited about a Christmas celebration that was planned, but little did he know there would be a bigger surprise.

With American flags waving, the class waited for a special guest.

Langston was shocked to see his dad walk through the classroom door. He was so shocked that he hesitated to hug him.

He told Action News 5 he wanted to follow directions and not get out of his seat before his teacher said it was okay.

Kelly has served in the Army for 13 years, and he’s been in Korea since April.

“When you come, they are just like, alright, I got my dad back and I got two parents. Let’s ride bikes and play outside, that’s all they care about,” he said.

Langston said he’s ready to play video games with his dad because that is what he missed most.

“He really didn’t get to play games with me. He really didn’t get that much time to hang out with me,” said the first-grader.

Kelly also surprised his daughter in fourth grade and his son in Kindergarten.

He will be home for about 20 days before going back to Korea.

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