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Video: Watch NYC Soldier Mom Surprise 8-Yr-Old Son At School
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 22, 2011
Modified Dec 22, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 22, 2011
Modified Dec 22, 2011
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Okay, Grinches, get ready for your hearts to grow three sizes and watch this video of a third-grader at Staten Island's PS 54 get a holiday surprise: Getting to reunite with his mother, a soldier who has been on her third tour in Afghanistan, in front of his classmates. Little Christopher Harris looks absolutely shocked at seeing mom Chief Warrant Officer 2 Karyn Obey appear. Obey said, "I just wanted to give him a little something special for Christmas. He knew I was coming home. He didn’t know when."
According to the Staten Island Advance, "Principal Karen LaRosa said Christopher is proud of his mom, a 10-year Army veteran stationed at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Wash., and often talks about her." And Assistant Principal Elizabeth Hession explained why they had the reunion at school, "We wanted to make it more real. It’s something that’s happening in our community."
Obey spoke with her son's classmates and "told them she joined the Army because she needed a good job and wanted to see the world, that her accommodations in Afghanistan are better than one might expect, and that our military personnel isn’t just hunting for bad guys in that country. They’re also building roads and helping the populace get needed medical attention. She said the Army is much like school — a lot of rules and people telling you what to do — but she likes it...They groaned only once — when she said she had never handled an AK-47 rifle."
Obey is returning overseas in January.
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afganistan
army
reunion
soldier
staten island
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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