SURPRISE HOMECOMING: Military mom shocks her daughter at St. Louis elementary school

Photo credit (Mehlville School District)

By NewsRadio 1120 KMOX

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Chief Warrant Officer Katie Herrell found an amazing way to celebrate her homecoming after spending four months in Georgia serving her country in the U.S Army. She set up a surprise for her daughter at Blades Elementary School in south St. Louis County.

Herrell's daughter is a fourth-grade student in the Mehlville School District and called the school to let them know about her plan. Herrell drove through the night from Fort Gordon in Georgia and then slipped into Blades Elementary’s "Boomer the Bobcat" costume to surprise her daughter Brooke during the Wednesday morning announcements.

You can see in the photos and video just how shocked Brooke was when her mom took off the mascot head.

"There were some times that I missed my mom," Brooke said after the big reveal. "There have been some times where I was just happy that she was doing a good thing for the country."

"A lot of people think it’s hard on the service members being gone all of the time," Herrell said. "But really it’s the families back home that it’s really the roughest part for."

Photo credit (Mehlville School District)