NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. – As the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea returned Wednesday to Naval Station Mayport after 10 months at sea, Neptune Beach Elementary School Principal Elizabeth Kavanagh was busy planning a flag raising ceremony to honor military children.
The Langley children, all three of them, were asked to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in front of their school and classmates.
As the children wrapped up the daily ritual, their mother, Petty Officer Langley, stood feet away in the atrium to the front of the school.
Her three children -- Brittany, Adam and Joshua -- then ran to her and all four embraced. Tears of happiness rolled down their faces.
MUST WATCH: Mother returns home from 10-month deployment and surprises her children at Neptune Beach Elementary. Watch the children’s faces when they see her for the first time. @wjxt4 @DuvalSchools @NS_Mayport pic.twitter.com/OgPQvlVc5m
— Zachery Lashway (@ZachLashway) April 21, 2021
“Hi. Are you OK?” the mother asked her children.
Langley said it’s amazing to be home.
“Absolutely amazing,” she said. “Ten months is a long time.”
The children told News4Jax they were surprised.
“I finally get to see her after 10 long months,” one of the children said.
The children said it had been hard without their mother, to which Langley said: “You all are amazing though!”
The family hugged more and walked off as classmates cheered.
“The district is honoring the military and military children. It is really important to realize, we know what our military does for us, but often we forget about the littles and what they do,” Kavanagh said.
USS Philippine Sea was the first U.S. Navy ship to travel the Suez Canal after it reopened. According to families with loved ones aboard the ship, the blockage added days to the deployment.