A reunion before a deployment
Ashley Sibbits, of the Iowa National Guard, with Lyle and Dawn Staudt. Dawn holds the flowers that Sibbits surprised her with.Press photo by Thomas Nelson.
Ashley Sibbits, of the Iowa National Guard holds Ezra Staudt as Megan Staudt smiles with them. Sibbits will be deploying to the Middle East with her unit. Press photo by Thomas Nelson.
Ashley Sibbits, of the Iowa National Guard, with Megan Staudt and Michael Staudt, while Sibbits held Ezra Staudt. Press photo by Thomas Nelson.
Ashley Sibbits, of the Iowa National Guard, with Lyle and Dawn Staudt after surprising them at the Charles City Girls basketball game. Press photo by Thomas Nelson.
Ashley Sibbits, of the Iowa National Guard, with Lyle, Michael and Dawn Staudt at the the Charles City Varsity Girls basketball game. Sibbits surprised the Staudts at the game. Press photo by Thomas Nelson.
By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com
A heartwarming military homecoming at the Charles City Middle School left many people smiling.
Ashley Sibbits surprised Dawn and Lyle Staudt at the Charles City varsity girls basketball game.
The team was celebrating the armed forces with a National Guard recruiter there to honor two families with soldiers deploying to the Middle East. Sibbits and Samantha Wilson were deploying and the Staudts and Wilson families were both present at the game.
The crowd all stood for the national anthem after the veterans in the crowd were recognized.
What the Staudts didn’t know was that Sibbits had planned to come home and surprise them, with the help of Wendy Luft.
Sibbits flew in to Des Moines International Airport.
“I got in last night at around 11 o’clock, and I got into Charles City around 1 a.m.,” Sibbits said.
Sibbits had planned the surprise with Luft after getting her leave approved, and arrived at the middle school around 7 p.m. in her uniform and took her place.
She sneaked around the bleachers and presented Dawn Staudt with flowers after the national anthem, hugging her and leaving her with a smile on her face — a smile that stayed on for quite a while.
Megan, Ezra and Michael Staudt were all there to be surprised as well at the heartfelt reunion.
The basketball game continued on while they spoke and celebrated Sibbits’ brief, but meaningful, return.
Sibbits has been in the National Guard since 2013, and is a private first class with Alpha Company of the 248th Aviation Support Battalion out of Waterloo.
She’ll be deploying to go overseas for a year, and took four days of leave to come home and surprise the Staudts, her adopted family.
“She’s been a close family friend for quite a few years,” Dawn Staudt said of Sibbits. “We kind of adopted her, kind of took her in.”
Dawn was originally Sibbits’ boss.
Sibbits doesn’t have a lot of family in the area, so the Staudts stepped in and took over that role, Dawn said.
“I’m glad to be home for awhile before going overseas for a year,” Sibbits said.
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