Rebecca Joyce, a South Jersey native, had the “Best Thanksgiving ever” when her son, Ben Joyce, surprised the family for the holidays after a two-and-a-half-year tour in Bahrain.
“You realize that when they sign up they may not be home for the holidays," Rebecca said. "All you can do is hope and pray they’re safe, but it’s an understanding when they enlist. You don’t think about it until your kid’s in the service and you can’t take having your kids home for the holidays for granted.”
Rebecca sent off Ben, who is enlisted in the Navy, for the first time the day after Thanksgiving in 2013.
In June 2014, Ben signed on for a tour in Bahrain. He chose Bahrain because it was only a two year tour as opposed to the other options that were three-years. When the two years were up, his tour was extended for 90-days and he told his family he would be home in October.
October came and went and Ben had to tell his family he wouldn’t be home until Jan. 3.
“I found out I would be detaching Bahrain in November around mid-September," Ben said. "However nothing is certain until you’re sitting on the plane on your way home. We always do a big Thanksgiving with extended family and I’ve missed the last three Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays so I thought it would be a good surprise to literally surprise everyone.”
“January 3 is my report date to Hawaii where I’ll be working law enforcement at the Barking Sands Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai for 18 months. I used that date to convince everyone I wouldn’t be home until after the holidays."
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Rebecca told NBC10 she had asked her son if they could send him home a week early.
“He told me there was even a guy getting married and he couldn’t get time off to go get married,” Rebecca said. “We knew with the unrest in the Middle East that his tour could be extended again so we weren’t getting our hopes up."
The family discussed waiting for January or even February to celebrate Christmas so that Ben would be home.
Ben stayed with his cousin when he arrived home on Nov. 22. When he found out his younger brother Tim was celebrating Thanksgiving with his wife’s family, Ben called Tim to tell him he was home so he wouldn’t miss the homecoming.
“We helped him plan the surprise,” Amanda Joyce, Tim’s wife, said. “We knew if we had walked in before Ben, there would be suspicion because we weren’t supposed to be there. We waited with him and filmed the surprise.”
In the heartwarming video, posted on Amanda's Facebook page, Rebecca breaks down in tears when she sees her son.
“When I saw him, I started bawling,” Rebecca recalled. "I had extended family coming for Thanksgiving, but it’s not the same without your own kids.”
Rebecca has another son, enlisted in the Navy, stationed in Texas so she knew he wouldn’t be home for the holidays.
“While I’m home, I will be spending time with family, including some time in Texas where my older brother, also in the Navy, is stationed.” Ben said. “There isn’t anything specifically hard about being away from home but I want to make sure that I more than make up for it with the time I do get with my family.”
While it’s difficult to not have your kids home for the holidays, Rebecca describe it as an understanding, but Ben’s homecoming served as a hard reminder for all of the other military families out there.
“Even though we were happy to see him come home, we think about the other families," Rebecca said. "We would love to see this for every family, at least for their kids to come home alive. You think of the families who don’t get a joyous homecoming.”
