Heroes Come Home: Mother surprises daughter after nine-month tour
FRANKLIN -- On a Thursday morning at Country Dale Elementary School in Franklin Hannah Blair and her peers in Ms. Davis' class were preparing for a guest presenter -- in the form of FOX6's Chip Brewster! Little did Hannah and her peers know -- they would soon be surprised by ANOTHER guest presenter -- Hannah's mom!
Hannah's mom, also known as Lieutenant Colonel Linda Blair of the Air Force Reserve made her way to her daughter's classroom on this special Thursday. Linda had been overseas for the past six months.
"This is a huge surprise. I think she's going to jump up and scream," Linda Blair said.
Hannah had no idea her mother was home -- much less outside her classroom door!
Linda Blair had said goodbye to her civilian life in July. She and her husband tried their best to prepare their nine-year-old daughter for the difficulties of separation.
"I don't know if you can hug enough or do to dinner enough or do anything enough to compensate for what the ultimate duration of time is," Charles Blair said.
Linda Blair says a lot of holidays were missed along the way.
"I missed her birthday. I missed my husband's birthday. I missed my birthday. I missed Thanksgiving. I missed Christmas, missed New Year's -- all the big ones," Linda Blair said.
As a member of the 434th LRS, Linda Blair spent her tour of duty at central command in Kuwait. She was among a multi-branch command group coordinating all things transportation for the entire Middle East region.
"Mentally, I just kind of flip a switch and just go into 'exist mode' -- get up in the morning, go to work, get off work, go workout, stop in the chow hall somewhere along the way and just kind of get into a pattern and a routine," Linda Blair said.
However, even that routine was thrown off. As the second in command of logistics, Linda Blair had one task no one looked forward to.
"The hardest part was we took care of the airlift for all the fallen heroes. It never got easier. It was a somber, somber event. Every single time I'd see the request for air movement come across I'd be like, 'that poor family,'" Linda Blair said.
Despite the difficulties and challenges on both sides of the world, the Blairs understand how important it is to serve.
"This is what military people do. It's what we do and sometimes you gotta do these things and that's just how it is," Charles Blair said.
The Blairs said first on the list now that mom is home was recreating Christmas morning. Hannah made sure the tree stayed up, and had gifts underneath for mom.
Linda Blair is two years away from having served 20 years in the military -- the minimum needed to retire.