Home For Independence Day

It's a story perfect for Independence weekend. A soldier's family kept him in their prayers for months and their biggest prayer was answered on Friday.

The Surrett's walk into Mobile Regional Airport like an Army of their own but they're missing one soldier. The family is here for Army Specialist Jacob Surrett, he's been in Afghanistan for six months. He's a husband, a father and a son to a very proud family from Satsuma.

Jacob's mom Diane says she never really knew just how hard it can be. "I wondered how people dealt with this and it's not easy. I never knew until I had to go through it." His leave was scheduled for early July but there's never a guarantee when you're in uniform.

No one was sure that Jacob was flying in on Friday until his mom got a call in the middle of the night. He was already in Ireland and halfway home to Alabama.

The family waits nervously for the plane to arrive and spot him as he walks through the terminal. Casey Surrett jumps in his arms and cries. As coincidence would have it, Jacob's Aunt was flying in on the same plane and they go to sit together.

As the family hugged in the middle of the airport, we hear a round of applause coming from complete strangers. That's the moment that Diane bursts into tears. "It means that everybody supports all the guys. It just means a lot to us that everyone know what these guys are doing."

The 21-year old soldier hasn't spend much time with his 13 month old daughter Katie and can count on one hand how much he's seen his 4 month old Jacob.

Specialist Surrett says he will spend plenty of time with family but also plans to hit the water. He wants to do as much fishing as possible while he's home.