Local soldier serving in Afghanistan surprises son before curtain goes up on Green High School play

GREEN, Ohio - It was a surprise homecoming at Green High School Friday night. A local soldier surprised his son before the curtain went up on a big performance.

After nine months, 2,000 combat hours and 166 combat assault missions in Afghanistan, Greg Sigelmier returned home with one more mission, to surprise his son.

Greg's son, Graham, was acting in Friday night's student production of “Hair Spray.”

Just before the curtain rose, Greg’s arrival was announced in front of the 500 in attendance. Graham was embarrassed at first slinking down in his seat but managed a quick hug for his dad.

"I was simply shocked and amazed, I'm so happy he's finally home for once," Graham Sigelmier said.

He went on to play his part in the show. Dad has big plans to catch up with time lost with his son.

"I missed him driving. Actually, my wife taught him to drive so I'm going to get to drive around with him. That's going to be our bond and he wants to learn how to ride a motorcycle so we'll do that in the spring," Greg Sigelmier said.

Later, backstage in private, the reunion was more emotional with a hug that wouldn’t end.