HAPPY HOMECOMING

Sons surprised when military dad comes to school

It was the moment his family had been anticipating. It just came a little early.

Air National Guard Master Sgt. Patrick Gallagher had been deployed overseas for the better part of the past seven months. It’s neither the first time he had been away from his family — he’s been deployed many times over nearly 30 years of military service — nor his first homecoming.

But this was the first time Sgt. Gallagher was able to surprise his kids when they weren’t expecting him to be home.

“From the moment you leave, what you look forward to the most is coming back to your family,” Sgt. Gallagher said Friday. “This one was pretty special.”

Sgt. Gallagher arrived Friday morning at Aquinas Academy in Greensburg, where he had an emotional reunion with his sons, 18-year-old Connor and 11-yearold Liam.

Liam is a sixth-grader at Aquinas, and Connor, a junior at Greensburg Central Catholic, was at the school because he was supposed to be volunteering for a schoolwide activity called The Crusade.

The boys, however, became the center of attention when their father walked in during the assembly.

“In that moment, I was just in shock,” Connor said. “I just felt really good, and I was excited to see him. I usually am not the one to cry, and I cried a lot.”

The family had last been together during the Christmas holidays while Sgt. Gallagher was home for a short time between three-month deployments to Afghanistan and Guam.

Sgt. Gallagher’s wife,

Christine, asked Aqunias Principal Joe Rice earlier whether it would be OK for her husband to meet the boys at the school. Mr. Rice was fine with the plan, but came up with the idea of surprising them.

Connor and Liam were expecting their father to arrive Friday, but Ms. Gallagher told them his flight had been delayed and it would take another day or two for him to get home.

Ms. Gallagher said Liam was in a bad mood after hearing that. Liam’s mood changed quickly when his father walked into the assembly.

“When I saw him just go to his dad ... I just started crying,” Ms. Gallagher said. “I was happy because we’re together.”

Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette Air National Guard Master Sgt. Patrick Gallagher hugs his surprised son Liam, 11, during an assembly Friday at Aquinas Academy in Greensburg. Liam and his brother, Connor, 18, who was also at the school as a volunteer for the assembly, did not know their father was coming. Sgt. Gallagher, who has nearly 30 years of service, was deployed for seven months to Afghanistan and Guam. Story,