Ozarks family welcomes home Marine for the holidays

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Days away from Christmas morning, one Ozarks family celebrated a welcome home for their Marine.

Justin Adams’ family greeted him as he walked through the Springfield-Branson National Airport on Friday. His welcome home was filled with hugs, laughs and smiles. He and his family said it will be a busy Christmas holiday this year.

“My heart is just pounding,” Justin’s mother Suzzanne Jackson said after he arrived. “I am joyful. Joyful would be the best description of what I am feeling right now.”

It was an unexpected holiday reunion for Justin and his family.

”It was a big shock when we all found out it was actually happening,” Justin said. “We were all super, super excited.”

Justin shipped away for boot camp back in June. He has been quite busy for several months and definitely did not expect to be home anytime soon.

”A lot of us kind of thought it was kind of a mean joke,” he said. “Some of the instructors were telling us that we were going to go home for the holidays. We thought they were messing with us.”

Not a tease at all, instead, an early Christmas gift. The big welcome back meant just as much to Justin’s family.

”It is just amazing to have him home,” Justin’s mom said. “I knew I would miss him. I never grasped how much I would miss him.”

But the surprise doesn’t stop there.

”It’s even more exciting because he’s getting married next week,” Suzzanne Jackson said.

Justin proposed right before boot camp.

”I figured since I was coming home, might as well just do it now,” Justin said. “She’s awesome. She’s definitely been one of my biggest supporters, probably one of the reasons I actually ended up finishing through training. She sent me letters through every week. It helped a lot.”

The next few days will be quite hectic no doubt, but all for good reason.

”We’re going to try to fit a year’s worth of experiences into the 16 days that he’s home because we don’t know when we’ll get to see him again,” his mom said.

Justin said he has about a month or two left of training and schooling. He does not know yet where he will be permanently stationed.

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