Marine surprises sister at Springfield Veterans Day celebration

A Snowhill Elementary School student was surprised by her brother’s return home on Veterans Day.

Sixth-grader Ivey Willford’s brother, Robert Sanders, is a lance corporal in the United States Marine Corps, stationed in Cherry Point, N.C.

Sanders calls his sister once a week, he said, and did so Friday morning.

“I planned on coming up but she didn’t know that I was going to be home at all,” he said.

During the school’s Veterans Day celebration, Sanders hid in a separate room, then as Willford stood at the front of the room, he surprised her by showing up. Willford burst into tears at the sight of her brother.

“I miss you,” she said as they embraced.

“It’s OK,” Sanders said. “It’s OK.”

The pair have gone about two months without seeing each other, he said. Sanders has been a Marine for about a year and a half.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen her,” Sanders said. “We’ve been close for quite a while now, so it was hard for both of us.”

Willford is a special needs student and can be shy when you first meet her, Sanders said, but is very outgoing. One of the most difficult parts about joining the military, he said, has been the distance from his family in Springfield.

“It’s a big culture shock being away and just trying to make your own life out there for yourself,” he said.

Sanders works as a ground supply man for a Marine aircraft group.

“It has its moments,” he said. “There’s ups and downs to it just like everything else.”

But he said he’s grateful for his reunion with his sister and excited to spend time with his family over the weekend.

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