Oklahoma Sailor Meets His #1 Gal

Wednesday, August 22nd 2007, 4:56 pm

By: News On 6

A sailor deployed to the Persian Gulf is back on Oklahoma soil. News On 6 anchor Scott Thompson reports, for months, his mission kept him from meeting the newest member of his family.

"Say hi! Say hi, baby girl!" Specialist Jason Moore said to his daughter.

Smiles are automatic when a father sees his daughter face-to-face for the first time. Jason Moore was half-a-world away when little Kinsley was born.

"I knew I wasn't going to be able to be there, so I just called home every day and talked to her. I would talk to my daughter every day," said Moore.

Now, 4-month-old Kinsley has a face, arms and a heartbeat to put with that voice.

"I was in school, and had the baby and just wanted him there," Jasonâ€™s wife Allison Moore said.

New mom Allison says it was difficult to do alone. Both parents say they'll be learning a lot as they raise their first child.

"The whole last week was slow, it was just going by so slow because I was so anxious,â€ said Specialist Moore. â€œI couldn't even sleep the night before. The night before we pulled in I couldn't even sleep because I was just so ready to get home."

The Navy bent the rules to get Jason home to his family sooner. They let him fly home from Hawaii instead of taking the slow boat back to base in Seattle, Washington.

"I just want to live life on land again,â€ he said. â€œIt's been so long. You learn to appreciate the small things when you're gone so long, like just the fact I'm standing on land right now and not a carrier. The fact that I can drive my new car we have now."

A new car fully equipped now that his new passenger is on board.

"Just all the small things. I can do all the small things now," said Specialist Moore.

Specialist Moore heads back to Seattle in a few days. He says he'll be busy making up for lost time before he's redeployed.

Watch the video: Sailor Finally Meets His Baby Girl