Back from Afghanistan, Portland man dressed as Jedi surprises son

By KATU.com Staff Published: Jul 26, 2012 at 11:38 AM PDT Last Updated: Jul 26, 2012 at 4:13 PM PDT

PORTLAND, Ore. – For 5-year-old Danny Furrow-Kiebler, Afghanistan might as well have been a galaxy far, far away.

Danny’s father, who happens to be a big Star Wars fan, has spent the last year away from his family on a tour of duty with the Air Force in Afghanistan.

Col. Rob Kiebler returned home to Portland last week, although his son didn’t know about the homecoming in advance. Rob decided to dress up as a Jedi knight and surprise his son during the boy’s birthday party.

Danny was celebrating his birthday with family and friends at the Deschutes Brew Pub in Portland on July 18 when the cast of characters from Star Wars came in to say hello.

Rob, dressed in a hooded Jedi knight outfit, walked behind the other characters, removed his hood and saw his son for the first time in a year.

"When I pulled the hood back as part of the surprise he didn't really recognize me. I think he was a little overwhelmed with all the Star Wars characters" Rob said. "I took a minute and said 'hey, who am I?' Then it kind of caught him and he gave me a huge hug and he wouldn't let go. It was a pretty great feeling."

"I didn't recognize him at first. I thought it was just a Star Wars character and he was dressed in a costume," Danny told us. "But it wasn't a Star Wars character, he was my dada."

Family friend Katie Reardon and her husband captured the reunion on video that was posted to YouTube on Thursday.

The video then spread online. This story quickly became the most viewed on KATU.com and was linked from CNN.com a few hours after we first posted it.

"It's a little overwhelming to be honest with you. It's just nice to be home and see the family and take a few weeks off before we move on," Rob said. "It's really surprising how fast it just exploded."

Check out the video below. Special thanks to Reardon for sharing the video with us.

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23 comments

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Randy Ripplinger

Great story. Also, see this one on YouTube!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAVESNguFUc&list=PL76CE0F669313A4D8&index=4&feature=plpp_video

jallard

Wylie Dulmage said:

"How man fatherless families has this one soldier had a hand in making? Â This is just more militaristic bullshit to hide the fact that these people join up to kill and occupy."

I couldn't find you post, but I still wanted to comment on you ill regard for our military and for those who serve. Like those four boyfriends in Aurora, CO, who gave up their lives for protecting Â their girlfriends, they gave the ultimate sacrifice. Something every single American can learn from: And, that is; "It's not all just about me!" If you have lost some to war I am sorry, but your anger towards our soldiers is totally unjustified. We had enough of that during the Vietnam War.

Luzviminda R. Pew

For a second he was wondering this is really cool but when he saw his Dad, is even greater...

Johnny Squeeb

Freakin great story.

Dienekes4160

Dammit, that's so awesome I'm surprised they haven't tried to tax it. Welcome home, Colonel, and thank you for your service.

The kid was rightfully suspicious when the stormtroopers showed up. By the way, where were these guys during the Occupy protests? How awesome would it have been for a battalion of stormtroopers to form up on the sidewalk in front of Chapman Park?

Mikey

How cute!!

adam nelson

1 Like

It's a Kodak moment.

CTWU

2 Like

WTG 501st!Â See, I knew Darth Vader had a good heart!

Like John Barnard says, thank you Col. Kiebler for your willingness to serve your country above all else.

And, Danny, thank you for sharing your video and your Dad with the entire world!Â How lucky you are to have parents who care so much about you!Â There's only one problem.Â What are you wanting for your next birthday and how can your parents top this one?