Family looks forward to soldier's return


6 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Staff Sergeant Brian Chapple is one of 81 soldiers that will return home Wednesday after a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan.

Brian Chapple, an Army reservist, is part of the 971st Medical Company. He is one of more than 1,100 Utah-based service men and women who are deployed through various branches of the military.

Chapple is no stranger to deployment. This was his third time overseas, though at 12 months it has been the shortest length of time. He and his wife have four children — ages 9, 6, 4 and 2. The deployments are often hardest on them.

"They're always talking about him. 'When daddy gets home we're going to do this, that and the other,'" said Jen Chapple, Brian's wife.

Brian and his unit are scheduled to land at the Salt Lake City International Airport just after noon Wednesday.

Relieved, Jen said instead of counting days, she's now down to hours. "It's really hard because I know that tomorrow the few hours before waiting for me to go to the airport, I'm going to be dying."


Now, there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

–Jen Chapple


To get ready, Jen spent the morning cleaning her house. "And I got pretty," she said, laughing and pointing at her recently done hair.

The Chapples' four children have been excited thinking about the camping and fishing trips they can take now that their father will be home.

"We didn't get to go camping this summer because camping (alone) with four kids is crazy," Jen said.

The couple's 4-year-old daughter is so anxious to see her father, she carries a cardboard-backed poster-size picture of Brian called a "flat daddy." It's been the stand-in for the past year.

"Now, there's a light at the end of the tunnel," Jen said.

It's been a rough year for the family. A 10-year anniversary, birthdays and, of course, Christmas have all come and gone, as well as milestones missed.

"When he left, Zander was barely walking. Now he's running around like a crazy man and talking," Jen said, referring to the couple's 2-year-old son.

Jen says her sergeant can expect to arrive home to a home-cooked meal of country ribs with mashed potatoes.

Email: lprichard@ksl.com

Photos

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Lori Prichard

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
    Newsletter Signup

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button