Sunday, March 3, 2013

A military dad surprised his three children at Saturday night's Wichita thunder hockey game

The Kosmicki children are used to welcoming their dad home. He's been sent overseas almost a half dozen times in his military career. The children's parents pulled off a surprise homecoming they will never forget.

At every Wichita thunder home game, they honor a "Hero of the Game" by putting up a military person's photo and reading out their achievements. That's what the Kosmicki kids thought was happening Saturday night.

For more than four months, videos of events like choir concerts or wrestling matches were the only way for Tech Sgt. Steven Kosmicki to keep up with his children's lives.

"Being there is completely different than having the video taken and seeing it. It's like watching a TV show almost,” Tech. Sgt. Steven Kosmicki said.

At Saturday night's Thunder game, Kosmicki's children were the stars of another cell phone video they thought their dad would see. What they didn't know was he was about the video's surprise guest star.

"We were on the big screen and they were talking about what all he's done in the military and they said, 'and please welcome back Technical Sgt. Steven Kosmicki.' And they all just look at me,” the children's mother, Angela Kosmicki said.

The person shooting the video actually had to point to the surprise waiting behind them and then the three kids took off. The rest of the video is nothing but a lot of a hugging and a lot of tears.

While he was away, Tech. Sgt. Kosmicki missed a lot.

"Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthdays, New Years. I even missed Halloween,” Tech. Sgt. Kosmicki said.

Tech Sgt. Kosmicki has served 12 years in the United States Air Force. His wife tells me if you were to add up all the time he's spent overseas away from his family, it would be over four years.