Marine surprises family with visit to high school

Posted 3/3/21

Monday’s dreary day was especially brightened for the Herring family of Quitman with an unexpected visit from their son and brother, Tobie Herring, a lance corporal with the United States Marine Corps.

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Marine surprises family with visit to high school

Posted

Monday’s dreary day was especially brightened for the Herring family of Quitman with an unexpected visit from their son and brother, Tobie Herring, a lance corporal with the United States Marine Corps.

Tobie, with the help of step-mom Lindsey, surprised his dad, high school teacher John Herring, in his math classroom right before lunch.

Following an emotional reunion with his dad, Tobie made a surprise appearance in his sister Elizabeth’s AP English class. Elizabeth was overjoyed to see her brother. The family then made the short trek to Quitman Elementary for a tearful reunion with youngest sister, 3rd grader Millie. 

The last time John Herring had seen his son was on Father’s Day 2020, in San Angelo, when he got a call from Tobie at 4 p.m., who told him he would be in San Angelo for the weekend, at which point Mr. Herring quickly packed, loaded up his truck and made the long drive through the night to see his son.

It’s been even longer since the whole family was together. Herring enlisted in the USMC in 2019 and graduated from boot camp March 14, 2020, which was the last time Lindsey, Elizabeth and Millie had seen him, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.  

Herring is based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., where he is an aviation rescue firefighter. He is on leave until March 16 and plans to spend some good quality time with his family.