Local Soldier Surprises Family With Reunion

Special to the Messenger

A Grundy County native serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan was reunited with his family on Thanksgiving during a celebration event in Kansas City, Mo. Sgt. James Bell, a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crew chief, surprised his wife and youngest daughter during a Plaza Lighting Ceremony on Nov. 28 by greeting them onstage after returning home early from Afghanistan for the event.

Bell is a soldier with Company C, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. He is a graduate of Grundy County High School and Tennessee Technology Center in Shelbyville. Before going into the miliyary, he and his brother owned and operated South Cumberland Collision Center.

Before coming on stage to meet his wife, Bell waited in a nearby tent set up to appear as if he was making an internet phone call from Afghanistan. Bell greeted his wife and then said, “I wish I could be there on the stage with you.”

When Bell said that, the camera zoomed out revealing that Bell was not actually alone, but was with actor Rob Riggle, who is also a Kansas City native, and Dustin Colquitt, punter for the Kansas City Chiefs.

“Wish granted,” Riggle said. He and Colquitt then escorted Bell onto the stage where the Bell family was reunited in front of more than 100,000 people who had come to the ceremony. Following the ceremony, the family was taken to a nearby restaurant that had been prepared to receive them. Bell said that he liked having a surprise to give to his family.

“I feel great about it,” Bell said. “I’m grateful to be back in America and to be with my wife and my family.” Bell, who deployed with the rest of the 1st CAB in August, said he was looking forward to being with his family again and that he expected his family to be excited to see him.

Bell’s mother, Elizabeth Bell, said that he was hand-picked from among 8,000 soldiers for this event because of his outstanding service record, his deployments (he was on his second deployment in Afghanistan) and his medals (which include the Purple Heart from his first time in Afghanistan).

Bell enlisted six years ago. His first deployment sent him to the mountainous area surrounding the Korengal Valley. On Christmas that year, his outfit was attacked, and he was hit by a grenade. He recovered at a medical facility very close to his base, returning to his company after only a month of convalescence. After his tour was finished, he returned home with nine pieces of shrapnel and a Purple Heart. In addition to the Purple Heart, he has earned numerous medals and commendations. His current term will not be up until 2016, but he plans to make a career out of the military, his mother said. 

Elizabeth Bell is the humanities chairman and visual arts specialist at Grundy County High School.

Bell and his wife, Trish, make their home in Fort Riley, Kan., now. They have two daughters, Isa and Lottie, and a new baby girl expected in March 2014.

To see the reunion on video, go to <http://youtu.be/M3ZwmgOslKE>.

—by Sgt. Keven Parry, 1st Combat Aviation Public Affairs,
U.S. Army; with staff reporting.