Smithtown Soldier Surprises his little brother at Tackan Elementary
Tackan Elementary School kindergartner Leo Medina got the surprise of his life when his big brother, a private in the US Army surprised him during the annual holiday ice cream party. The Smithtown High School East alumni and US Army Private, Justin Purnell had been stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia for the last ten weeks.
When Purnell was granted leave for two weeks, he called his mother, Nicole Medina, to share the good news. Medina thought up a plan to surprise Purnell’s little brother at school, right before winter break. What began as a casual surprise visit, quickly evolved into a well organized super surprise, with help from the staff at Tackan Elementary School.
Leo Medina was sitting with his fellow kindergartners, waiting for ice cream and what he thought was a visit from Santa Claus. But when the teacher yelled out, “Does anyone know who this is?” Leo turned around to find his older brother walking into the cafeteria. Leo Medina played it cool and just said, Oh… I do as he got up from the table. He walked, very casually up to his brother, but quickly became overwhelmed with emotion. Leo wrapped his arms and legs around his older brother and hugged him as tight as can be, for the first time in months. Afterwards Private Purnell sat down with Leo and his classmates, in a tiny chair and enjoyed plenty of ice cream.
Private, Justin Purnell graduated from Smithtown High School East in 2016 and enlisted immediately. Purnell is currently serving in the Army at Fort Benning in Georgia, where he has been stationed over the last 10 weeks. Justin Purnell is 13 years older than his little brother, Leo Medina, but the twosome are best friends. They will spend the next two weeks together, before Purnell returns to basic training for a final four weeks.