Jul 3, 2008 5:45 pm US/Eastern
Volunteers Give Soldier 4th Of July Surprise
GLEN BURNIE, Md. (WJZ) ―
He's overseas fighting in Iraq, but a surprise is waiting for a soldier at his Glen Burnie home.
Jessica Kartalija reports volunteers come together just in time to make the 4th of July surprise a success for a local officer.
In October, a ceremonial sendoff took place for members of the 290th Military Police Company of the Maryland National Guard. Among them was Staff Sergeant Brian Daughters.
The North American Deck and Railing Association teamed up with the National Guard to build the Daughters family a new deck.
"I am just completely in shock and in awe. I can't believe all these people have come together to do this for us," said Jill Daughters.
"We came up with the design, everybody came on board with the materials, and we decided to have a July 4th ribbon cutting," said Ray Stuart with NADRA.
NADRA received hundreds of applications.
"What singled out Sgt. Daughters was the fact that he had served so many places and at so many times," said Col. Charles Kohler, Md. National Guard.
Daughters served in Afghanistan, is currently in Iraq and assisted with relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina. He is also a full-time officer with Anne Arundel County Police.
"I sent him some pictures in Iraq, and he loves it. He thinks it's great. I can't wait for him to come home and actually see it, see the finished product," said Jill.
"I know that our soldiers who are deployed know about this and hear about these things. It really shows the American people know what they're doing and care about their sacrifices and are willing to do this for them," said Kohler.
The deck project was so successful here, that other NADRA chapters in Pennsylvania and Virginia have decided to follow their lead. There are currently 15 decks being built for troops overseas.
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