Senior Airman Tyler Pham Vo of the United States Air Force arrived home to High Ridge, Missouri Saturday. He's been stationed at Osan Air Base in South Korea for the last five months.
When he shipped out, he left behind his wife, Alexis. Saturday, he surprised Alexis by showing up to the High Ridge Fire Protection District's headquarters.
"In my head I was like 'It's too good to be true, it's not mid-tour yet,' just talking myself out of it. And then he showed up," Alexis Pham VO said with a smile.
Tyler Pham Vo expected to see Alexis. He even expected her tears. What he didn't expect was to see an entire room full of his family sitting around Alexis.
"I did not expect everybody to show up. And it was a good feeling, good feeling," said Tyler.
It turns out the rest of the family didn't know why they were there, either.
“None of us had any idea what was happening,” said Tyler's grandmother, Marilyn Adams.
While Tyler was planning behind Alexis' back, his mom, Angela Hileman, was planning behind Tyler's back along with the entire family.
“So, when he walked in it was just as much a surprise to him as it was to them,” said Hileman.
The High Ridge Fire Protection District helped bring them all together.
“We think it's awesome any time we can support a member of the military from our fire district,” said Deputy Chief Ken Theiling.
After dozens of hugs and seemingly endless photos, the happy couple was off to spend the next month with family and each other.
“We're just glad they're going to time together and be able to spend some time because it's been hard for both of them,” said Alexis' mom, Jennifer Jinkerson.
“The ability to be able to come home and see everyone... there are no words to describe it,” added Tyler Pham Vo.
“It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me,” said Marilyn Adams. “And this is going to be the best Christmas ever!”
