Army sergeant shares adorable snaps of his son’s teddy in Iraq after five-year-old posted him to Middle East to ‘keep dad safe’
- Little Waylon sent his toy dinosaur to Iraq to be with his dad who was serving
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A little boy posted his dinosaur teddy to his dad serving more than 6,000 miles away in Iraq to ‘keep him safe’ while deployed.
US Army sergeant David Holmes, 33, served for almost a year when his son Waylon, five, decided to part with his favourite ‘Dino’ teddy that been by his side since he was born.
With the help of his mother Taylor, 32, Waylon posted the teddy all the way from his home in Ohio to Iraq.
Adorable photos show their dad holding Dino, ‘cruising’ the street of Iraq in a bulletproof SUV, joining him at the gym, sneaking the toy into group army snaps on base and even tucking the teddy into his camouflage body armour.
David left home last August for training flew to Iraq in October.
A little boy posted his dinosaur teddy to his dad serving more than 6,000 miles away in Iraq to ‘keep him safe’ while deployed
US Army sergeant David Holmes, 33, served for almost a year when his son Waylon, five, decided to part with his favourite ‘Dino’ teddy that been by his side since he was born. With the help of his mother Taylor, 32, Waylon posted the teddy all the way from his home in Ohio to Iraq
Adorable photos show their dad holding Dino, ‘cruising’ the street of Iraq in a bulletproof SUV, joining him at the gym, sneaking the toy into group army snaps (pictured) on base and even tucking the teddy into his camouflage body armour
Snaps show the dinosaur cruising around Iraq
In May, Waylon decided to send his cherished toy for an adventure over summer.
After missing Christmas, Thanksgiving and plenty of birthdays, the family, including little two-year-old brother Henry, are over the moon that David returned home safely to them earlier this month.
Taylor said: ‘Waylon sleeps with Dino every single night but he wanted to send it to his dad while he was deployed to Iraq.
‘He said it’d help him be safe and have safe travels home.
‘We wrote him a little letter and stuck it in there that said: ‘Send us pictures of Dino’s adventures with Dad’.
In May, Waylon decided to send his cherished toy for an adventure over summer
Dino got a seat with his ‘dad’ on the flight home
After missing Christmas, Thanksgiving and plenty of birthdays, the family, including little two-year-old brother Henry, are over the moon that David returned home safely to them earlier this month
‘Dad got it as a surprise. We didn’t tell my husband, David. It was a complete surprise to him when he received it in the mail.
‘I think he was definitely happy and excited to have a piece of home. I’m sure it smelt like home too.
‘Waylon was sad at first, so I said he didn’t have to send Dino if he didn’t want to. He kind of went back and forth and then said ‘No I want to send it’.
‘I’m sure David will have felt emotional opening it and proud of Waylon for sending it and how strong he must have been.’
Waylon, who Taylor says has a strong bond with his dad, had been used to going fishing together and exploring the outdoors before David was deployed for a year.
Waylon, who Taylor says has a strong bond with his dad, had been used to going fishing together and exploring the outdoors before David was deployed for a year. Dino is pictured in Iraq
Waylon is seen reuniting with his dad earlier this year
Dino helped keep the sergeant warm and cosy on the trip home
The family were overjoyed to be reunited
David is seen reuniting with his sons in Ohio
After posting off his dearest dinosaur, Taylor would show Waylon what his dad was up to after he sent back pictures of him and Dino in Iraq.
David would even get his pals in the army to help him take pictures to send to his sons, with Dino even making his way into their group picture.
Taylor, who works as a nurse, added: ‘Waylon definitely has a strong bond with his dad.
‘He loves doing everything with Dad, he’ll take him outdoors and let him work on the house and work with tools and take him fishing. He missed doing all that when he was gone.
‘He missed Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, both the boy’s birthdays, his birthday and my birthday.
The couple, who have been married for six years and know each other for 12, are happy to be reunited and Taylor is grateful he came home safely
‘The boys definitely missed their daddy for sure but we just tried to make it extra fun.
‘We’d facetime David and include him by sending him Christmas decorations for his room and things like that.
‘Mail took about two weeks to get to him and he sent the first picture back straight away.
‘We’d show the pictures to Waylon as his dad would send them and he’d see different things Dino was doing with his daddy while he was gone.
‘He had some of his buddies take some of the pictures for him. They wanted to make sure Dino was included in things. He’s in the big group picture, Waylon really likes that picture.’
The couple, who have been married for six years and know each other for 12, are happy to be reunited and Taylor is grateful he came home safely to their family.
Taylor said: ‘I’m extremely happy he came home safe to us. I’m very, very grateful.
‘We’re now on vacation, we managed to squeeze in a trip to the beach.
‘I wasn’t expecting the video to go viral, I was really shocked.
‘It’s definitely been nice to read all the comments thanking David for his service and all the kind words.’
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