Retirement ceremony had surprise ending

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Rich Curry
  • 507th Air Refueling Wing
Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma --  A retirement ceremony held August 6 turned into surprise homecoming moment for a former 507th Air Refueling Wing Airman.

Master Sgt. Wayne L. Ellison, 507th Maintenance Group, was retiring after 30 years of service.

Sergeant Ellison's son, Jay, is himself a Sergeant in the National Guard Army. Unfortunately Jay had recently deployed and was stationed in Afghanistan. According to Maintenance Group officials, Master Sgt.. Ellison had originally wanted to wait until his son was home from the war before he retired. Jay had requested leave and was denied so it appeared that Jay would not be able to return to the United States until sometime next year.

While Wayne was disappointed, he accepted the facts and gave up on the idea of having his son present for his retirement. So he decided to go ahead and schedule a date for the ceremony.

What he didn't know is that once he confirmed his retirement date and his unit had received the official order, Ellison's co worker, Master Sgt. David Wallis and his supervisor Master Sgt.. Johnny Baker began to coordinate with Ellison's son via e-mail.

According to Sergeant Wallis, "I was e-mailing with Jay and his wife since the middle of July. He asked for leave and the Army finally granted it. He almost didn't make it because his flight got pushed back. He arrived a couple days prior to the retirement ceremony so that worked out great. Nobody in his family knew he was going to be here except for his wife." With their help and the help of Jay's wife, the surprise was kept a secret from the entire family.

The retirement began welcoming the guests and then came the official presentation of the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal recognizing his most recent accomplishments supporting the wing and national defense mission while deployed to Southwest Asia while supporting Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

Then, once the official retirement citation was read and his wife received recognition for her contributions to his career, it was time to receive a retirement flag.

Ellison's commander, Captain Michael Maule made the announcement, "Master Sergeant Ellison, on behalf of the 507th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, please accept this flag in grateful appreciation of your faithful and dedicated service from our special guest, Sgt. Jay Ellison U.S. Army."

The puzzled look on Sergeant Ellison's face soon changed to one of happiness as he realized his son was walking across the room towards him amid roaring applause and exclamations of joy from those assembled.

"I had a lot of thoughts and memories going through my mind during the ceremony," the master sergeant said. "So when the captain said Jay's name, it really didn't register at first. I really didn't hear what he had said. I was completely surprised to see my son standing there."

With the ceremony finally concluded, father and son continued to visit while Jay held his own son, Langston, in his arms.

"I was so happy Jay was able to come back for my retirement," Wayne said. "It meant so much to me for him to be able to take part in this."