KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Soldier with Company C, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, was reunited with his Family on Thanksgiving during a celebration event held at the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo.
Sgt. James Bell, a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crew chief with Company C., 2-1 GSAB, surprised his wife and youngest daughter during the Plaza Lighting Ceremony Nov. 28 by greeting them onstage after returning home early from Afghanistan for the event.
Bell, who deployed with the rest of the 1st CAB in August, said he was looking forward to being with his Family again and that he expected his Family to be excited to see him.
"My wife will be very happy," Bell said. "She'll probably be crying."
Before coming on stage to meet his wife, Bell waited in a nearby tent set up to appear as if he was making an internet phone call from Afghanistan. Bell was told to greet his wife and then say, "I wish I could be there on stage with you," after she greeted him.
When Bell said the line, the camera zoomed out revealing that Bell was not actually alone, but he was with actor Rob Riggle, who is also a Kansas City native, and Dustin Colquitt, punter for the Kansas City Chiefs.
"Wish granted," Riggle said. He and Colquitt then escorted Bell onto the stage where the Bell Family was reunited in front of more than 100,000 people who had come to the ceremony.
Following the ceremony, the Family was moved to a nearby restaurant that had been prepared to receive them. Bell said that he liked having a great surprise to give to his Family.
"I feel great about it," Bell said. "I'm grateful to be back in America, and to be with my wife and my Family."
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