Soldier returning from Iraq surprises wife with DFW Airport reunion
As a volunteer greeter at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Alicia Young routinely eyes the tearful reunions between soldiers and spouses. 
But she didn’t know that Thursday would be her turn. Young, an 8th-grade social studies teacher at Jackson Technology Center in Garland, thought she would be assisting with a busload of students for the airport’s Rest and Recuperation Program.
Instead, amid a swarm of eager television cameras, she found herself welcoming her husband.
“I can’t even explain the sheer emotion,” said the 28-year old, who hasn’t seen Sgt. Matthew Young since he was deployed in August. “I see other soldiers and I get teary-eyed. I didn’t expect to see my husband jump off the plane.”
A member of the National Guard’s 56th division, the 30-year-old contacted the school’s principal in late January when he found out he would return to his Wylie home for two weeks in March. Originally, he wasn’t scheduled to return until September.
The principal, David Dunphy, got in touch with Christene Wheeler of the North Texas Commission. She coordinates the DFW Airport program along with the United Service Organizations. They masterminded the visiting student scenario.
The hitch: Dunphy got an e-mail Monday night from Young’s husband. He was in Kuwait. He’d be home a day early.
“I played it out as much as I could,” Dunphy said. She has taken classes to greeting sessions before as part of a civics lesson and plans to do it again in May. “I said, ‘If you help maybe they’ll be nice and help us when we come out,’” he said.
Then, he frantically called Wheeler.
About 200 troops come through the airport’s doors daily, but Wheeler said she’s never been asked to help organize this kind of surprise.
“Sneaky, I felt so sneaky,” she said with a grin as mischievous as Sgt. Young’s. Both the husband’s and wife’s families found out about the abrupt visit Wednesday night.
“He didn’t know we would be here so we got the last laugh,” said Dixie Jeffers, Sgt Young’s mother-in-law.
The couple’s 6- and 4-year-old sons darted into the greeting line when they saw their father, burying their heads in his chest.
“As a military spouse she has all the responsibilities to take over,” said the returning veteran as he rubbed his elder son’s head and explained why he so carefully calculated this plan. “I wanted to make this special. Everyone wants to surprise their wife, even if it’s a little mean.”
The pair – who celebrated their eighth anniversary via a web camera in southern Iraq – whispered to each other in between family hugs, interviews and the rest of the embarking crew from Iraq and Afghanistan. About 50 other greeters watched nearby.
“It makes me want to cry,” said Dianna Cabello, who began to tear when she heard about the crafted event. “It’s hard. You never take holidays for granted again.”
Her three sons waved American flags and awaited their own father, on his second tour of duty in Iraq.
Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta airports host the only program of this kind since military-chartered flights arrive from the Middle East with only one stop in Europe. About 150,000 troops come into the two airports annually, many of whom jump on connecting flights elsewhere.
Young has served as a greeter on nearly 15 occasions.
“Now the only problem will be when I come and here and I’m wondering if he’s getting off the plane,” she joked, gliding toward her husband for another hug.
After several live interviews, the Youngs made their exit – but not back to Wylie.
First, they stopped by the school to thank Dunphy where a quick “hello” became a ceremony.
Ever the history teacher, Young used her husband as a virtual show-and-tell for a few afternoon lessons.
Then, carrying her camouflage-pattern purse that reads, “I (heart) my Solider,” and “Army Wife,” she took her children – and her husband – home.
By JESSICA MEYERS (jmeyers@dallasnews.com), The Dallas Morning News
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