Fairmont soldier surprises parents

MARION COUNTY, W.Va (WDTV) - Police cars pulled over private first class Kenneth Stahl’s parents and older brother and told them there was a problem with their car.

The idea was months in the making but with a lot of help, one Fairmont soldier couldn’t wait to surprise his family.

Private First Class Kenneth Stahl was serving in Kuwait for nearly a year with most of his battalion still on duty.

“I don’t know about my dad you know, I was like, ‘I think my dad would kind of lose it a little bit,” Stahl said.

With the help of his friend from school, his brother, and delegate Michael Angelucci, the special homecoming worked out.

Police cars pulled over Stahl’s parents and older brother and told them there was a problem with their car.

A surprise that grew into police cruisers and the delegate, planning the surprise helped him pass the time but for mom Nancy Stahl, its been a painful tour.

“Every time he would call or Facetime me and after he hung up I would just cry,” Nancy Stahl said.

Stahl was just happy to come home.

“I love my mom to death so I couldn’t wait to see her and then I came and, I don’t know, I just wanted to lift her up off her feet and give her a hug,” Stahl said.

Angelucci who helped with the surprise only expected a couple thousand views.

“It ended up going viral, over 160,000 views from across the county both from Facebook and Tik Tok,” Angelucci said.

Angelucci is happy to help in something special

“..and so it was so important for me to share that and give something positive for people to see and to know just what dedication people like Kenneth have done for our country, that was so important and I’m so happy to see that so many people have found such a positive response to that,” Angelucci said.

Stahl has 50 days of leave and deploys in December, but he tells us he doesn’t take any moment now for granted.

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