Coram teen gets surprise military homecoming when brother interrupts class
U.S. Army Pfc. Zach Stone hadn’t seen his family for nearly a year after he was deployed to Germany and Poland.
He FaceTimed whenever possible with his parents and his 17-year-old sister Erika in Coram. And he was planning to come home for Christmas, but his sister wasn't expecting him to arrive until Wednesday.
Erika Stone sat with her head looking down Tuesday in Mr. Fabian’s social studies class at Longwood High School in Middle Island, perhaps slightly distracted, when the principal, Sam Ahmed, interrupted with a visitor.
She looked up as her brother, dressed in his camouflage fatigues, entered the classroom to a round of applause and greeted her with a hug.
“It really caught me by surprise,” she said outside the classroom. “I thought he looked familiar and then I thought, 'That’s my brother.' It’s great being a complete family again.”
Zach Stone, 19, graduated from Longwood High School in 2022 and immediately joined the Army. After basic training, he was stationed in Vilseck, Germany and then sent to Poland to assist near the border with Ukraine.
He helped arrange the surprise Tuesday with his parents and school officials. He landed Monday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport and went to stay with his grandparents in Pennsylvania, before reaching the high school Tuesday afternoon. He will be with his family for two weeks before he redeploys.
“Nobody can ever trick her,” he said of his sister, noting the family has a history of pranks and surprises. “It’s very hard to spend a year, let alone any time away from my family. I would trade everything just to be home for a day and spend the holidays with my family.”
Erika said she usually doesn’t like surprises, but was happy to have her brother home again. She thought at first that news cameras were there to honor her teacher.
“It’s great having him home and being able to talk to him face to face, rather than over a phone screen,” she said. “It’s been difficult getting used to the quiet. I’ve always had him there. It was loud, but in a good way.”
She said she’s already starting to plot getting back at him.
U.S. Army Pfc. Zach Stone, 19, and his sister Erika, 17, with their parents, Patty and Carl, at Longwood High School on Tuesday. Credit: James Carbone
Her parents were also in on the special homecoming at school, with her mom Patty and dad Carl also surprising Zach at the airport.
"It’s been a wild ride,” Carl Stone said.
Patty Stone wiped away tears watching the siblings' reunion. Both parents noted the past year has been difficult with the house feeling “empty,” she said.
"It's been rough," Carl Stone said. "He’s our oldest, our first, my little boy ... having them [back] together, it’s a complete holiday.”
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
