WASHINGTON – Like most mothers with sons in Iraq, Kathy Kerins worries a lot.
"Surprise Homecoming" host Billy Ray Cyrus reunites Staff Sergeant Jonathan Bentley with his wife and daughter. Photo Courtesy of TLC.
Recently her son, Army Spec. Kyle Dite, told her he’d been moved to Kuwait, “He said, ‘Mom, don’t worry anymore, I’m relatively safe,’” Kerins recalled. “But you know overseas, sometimes it’s just a really bad place.”
In fact, Dite was not in Kuwait. He was back in the United States.
Kerins finally learned the truth as she was being videotaped for what she thought was a safety training video at work.
“As far as I knew, we were shooting a safety video,” Kerins said. “I thought, ‘Geez, this is awfully big,’ but Bemis is a big company. Then all of a sudden my HR guy turned around and said ‘Kathy we have a surprise for you.’”
Dite and his brother, Army Sgt. Aaron Seabert, took part in The Learning Channel show “Surprise Homecoming,” a new series hosted by Country star Billy Ray Cyrus that reunites military men and women with their families after serving time overseas.
Cyrus said working on the show was his way of saying “thank you” to American troops and their families.
“Being part of ‘Surprise Homecoming’ has truly been an honor and a privilege for me,” Cyrus said in a statement from TLC.
Dite was approached to be on the show by his sergeant while serving in Iraq because both he and Seabert were deployed at the same time. After submitting a video and being selected, they just had to wait – and lie.
“It was hard to lie to my mom, but it was something I knew I had to do” Dite said.
“How they kept this secret I don’t know,” Kerins said. “Anytime they’ve got something — good, bad – they have to tell me.”
Even after her boys showed up with flowers in the middle of a workday, Kerins still could not process what was happening.
“I was just so focused on these boys getting back home, just like any other mother that wants their children home, and I had both of mine, my only two children,” Kerins said, her voice quivering. “This was just beyond my wildest dreams. I just could have never imagined this happening to me, I get very emotional.”
While technology like Skype and cell phones makes their time apart easier, nothing compares with being face-to-face, she said.
“This was a great opportunity to do something for her,” Dite said.
Dite and Seabert stayed home with their mother for two weeks after the surprise.
“Surprise Homecoming” premieres Monday July 11 at 10 p.m. ET. Dite and Seabert and their mom will be featured in that episode.