TAMPA, FL -- It's the day before Thanksgiving, but at Tampa International there are no long delays, no long lines, and no crowded escalators.
Still Joann Deserio's patience is running thin. "Oh come on" she sighs.
Like a lot of people here, Joann is waiting for a family member to show up.
"I'm waiting for my son, Daniel Pelletier,” she says.
She’s been waiting for a long time.
"He’s a marine he was in Iraq. He just came back to the United States," said Pelletier.
Pelletier hasn't seen her 20-year-old son since June.
“It’s going to be awesome," she said fighting back tears.
The timing couldn't be more perfect.
"It's been three years since we had Thanksgiving together,” Joann said. "Well it definitely has a different meaning. We’re excited to have him home. He did sustain an injury over there. We've been praying everyday he’d come home safely and he has."
Luckily Joann isn’t waiting alone; she had an entire entourage waiting to greet their hometown hero.
Daniel’s father, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends gathered by Gate F holding signs and waving small American flags
Then Joann got a text message.
“Honey he's coming on this one now," she said, gathering up the family.
Finally the moment arrives, a mothers embrace, a marine's tears and the entire community says thank you this Thanksgiving.
Dozens of people crowded around the marine. many of them strangers. They all erupted in applause to thank the young man who has returned home safely, in time to enjoy a homemade turkey.
