Oklahoma Marine Is Welcomed Home From Afghanistan

A Wagoner family planned a big surprise for a young Marine who returned to Oklahoma Saturday night.

The group formed a star-spangled crowd at the airport last night to welcome back Sgt. Jeff Rethford from Afghanistan.

His mother reached out to friends and family, who helped her keep the whole thing a secret.

With the help of the Blue Star Mothers, they formed a receiving line with flags and banners.

Rethford's wife hasn't seen him in nine months.

"I'm really thankful that all these people showed up... A lot of them don't know they have this support behind them so I'm really excited to see his face," Kelsey Rethford said. "He doesn't know anything about this."

Sgt. Rethford got off the plane around 9:30 p.m. and was definitely surprised by the greeting.

He said he didn't expect any kind of homecoming celebration, but he was happy to see it.

"Very good that they did all this... they definitely went above and beyond," he said.

Kelsey Rethford said they are going spend much-needed family time with a vacation to Branson next weekend.