Columbia (WACH)- It’s a memorable homecoming for a Columbia soldier. Matthew Browns mother needed help during his deployment to make her backyard safe for her granddaughter to play. Soldiers and sailors came together and it was mission accomplished. That was in 2007.
Recently, at a McDonald’s on Charleston Highway there was a special homecoming for Sergeant Matthew Brown. He was deployed to Iraq for two tours of duty. He's now back home with his mother, Vicki Brown, and niece Tori and seeing for the first time how his mothers backyard was transformed by his extended military family shortly after he left in 2007.
"I was impressed. I wasn't sure what they were doing. My mom told me about it but when I got here and saw it I was impressed," says Matthew.
Matthew’s mother Vicki says, "They cleaned out the yard, built the deck did a dog run, swing set, it was just awesome everything they did for us."
Lieutenant Commander Stuart Keiner says good will gestures like this are common among those in the military.
He says, "Helping those family members back at home in the states whose family members are deployed and doing everything we can to help them out."
Art Aaron is a big supporter of the project and the owner of the McDonalds on Charleston Highway. He provided most of the funding for the project.
Aaron says, "Anything we could do to take some of the stress off him so he didn't have to think about what was back home in Columbia, I'm happy to do it."
"Me and my brother were both deployed when they came to do this work and I was happy someone military-wise was coming to help my mom out," says Matthew.
The 22-year old says he will continue the work his military family started to keep this backyard a great place to come home to. Matthew heads to Washington in the coming weeks to start training his team for the next deployment. He says he's looking forward to starting college when he returns; and after graduation he wants to join the U.S. Marshalls.
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