The Standard Journal

Army dad flies in to surprise daughter on 4th birthday

- By Doug Walker RN-T Associate Editor

A few tears fell from the eyes of family and friends as a 4-yearold birthday girl walked briskly to give her dad a big hug — a huge smile shining on her face.

You see, her daddy wasn’t supposed to be there as far as she knew. Her daddy, U. S. Army E4 John Brock, is stationed at Fort Wainwright near Fairbanks, Alaska.

Right after kids finished singing happy birthday to Khloey Brock, she got the best birthday present of her young life when her dad walked in to her pre-school classroom at Where Kids Fit.

She shouted “Daddy” as her father walked through the door to surprise the daughter he had not seen since February.

He flew in from Alaska to surprise Khloey and her 2-year-old brother Howard.

“It was hard, we weren’t sure he was going to get the time he needed,” said wife Anna Brock.

She and her husband started serious planning last month when they found out her husband would be able to get a full 28-day leave from the Army where he is a tractor mechanic.

Brock said he would be assigned to Fort Wainwright into 2020 when he finishes his second four-year- year enlistment in the Army.

He said the decision to surprise his daughter was just something that he and his wife came up with randomly.

“It’s like a year’s worth of leave but it’s worth it,” Brock said. “This is really special, especially after being gone for so long.”

Asked if this was the best birthday present ever, little Khloey just nodded her head up and down and smiled as she gave her dad another hug.

 ?? Doug Walker / RN-T ?? Khloey Brock (left), 4, and Howard Brock, 2, get big hugs from dad John Brock after he flew in from Fort Wainwright, Alaska, to surprise his daughter on her fourth birthday. Brock last saw his wife Anna and children in February.
Doug Walker / RN-T Khloey Brock (left), 4, and Howard Brock, 2, get big hugs from dad John Brock after he flew in from Fort Wainwright, Alaska, to surprise his daughter on her fourth birthday. Brock last saw his wife Anna and children in February.

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