HILLSBORO, Mo. — There was a special surprise at Hillsboro High School's annual Veterans Day luncheon and assembly Thursday.
It is a day to honor the service of local veterans while also teaching the students about the sacrifice of our service members.
"I think it’s beneficial for both our students and our veterans. Our veterans get some love and respect and honor that they deserve and our students get to see the veterans and appreciate the commitment that they made to us," said Mark Groner, the principal at Hillsboro High School.
This year, there was a special surprise. Jillian Woods is a sophomore at the school and hadn’t seen her older brother in about a year. Senior Airman Gavin Woods has been deployed overseas for the last six months.
"My older brother is in the Air Force right now, he's just come back from deployment," said Jillian Woods.
Little did she know that her brother has been in town for about a week and the family decided to surprise her today at the school assembly.
After singing the national anthem and posting of the colors, her brother was introduced as a special guest speaker.
“I was very shocked, very overwhelmed, I really didn’t know how to react. They said the surprise speaker was coming and I just saw the back of his head and I said, 'That kind of looks like the back of my brother’s head,'” said Jillian. “And I look up at the big screen and see his picture and said, 'Oh, it is my brother.'”
And although Jillian wished she would have seen her brother sooner, she's happy that he’s home and very proud of his service.
"He took something that he didn't know he wanted to do and he made the best out of it and he was able to just find something that he loves to do in life and is able to serve the country while doing it," she said. "I'm very proud of my brother, very proud."