Soldier, back from serving overseas, surprises daughter on field trip

HALLS, Tenn. — There were plenty of touching moments Tuesday as a mother was reunited with her daughter after being separated for months by thousands of miles.

It’s something the newly returned soldier said she was excited to be able to share.

“It’s very special,” United State Air Force Technical Sgt. Natalie Wilson said. “I love that I was able to surprise her. She had no idea I was going to be here today.”

Dionna and her mom are from Virginia. Dionna has been living with her grandmother here in West Tennessee while her mother was away serving our country in Afghanistan.

The surprise has been months in the making, put together by Dionna’s teacher and grandmother. The wait ended Tuesday at the Halls Veterans Museum.

“Dionna started telling me back about a month ago that her mom was getting ready to come home, but we weren’t sure about the exact date, so I started emailing her grandmother,” said Margaret Castleman, a fifth grade teacher at Dyersburg Intermediate School.

“This week, I told her that her mother was back in Virginia and she was getting ready to come to Dyersburg and it’d be one day this week, but she didn’t have no idea what day it would be this week,” Dionna’s grandmother, Sylvia Byrd, said. “I’m glad to have her home. Yes, I’m glad to have Dionna back to her mother.”

But for the 10-year-old and her mom, they’re just glad to be back together.

“Bringing her here, it is a really great feeling to know that I have the family, the love and support and that they’re willing to do that for us,” Sgt. Wilson said.

Dionna and her mother said they plan on making their way back to Virginia to enjoy their summer together.