Mom Returns from Afghanistan, Surprises Daughter at Meadowvale

Major Annette Paglia of Havre de Grace returned recently after being deployed for a year in Afghanistan.

Her eight-year-old daughter, Chelsea, didn't think her mom would be home from her deployment with the Air Force until February, missing Chelsea's Jan. 12 birthday, according to WJZ, which captured the moment as Paglia surprised her unsuspecting child at Meadowvale Elementary School before the big day.

See the video from WJZ Channel 13.

In fact, Paglia arrived home Jan. 9, and members of the American Legion Barnard L. Tobin Post 128 in Aberdeen greeted her at BWI Airport. Paglia is a member of the Aberdeen post.

Standing with the legion members, Paglia's husband held flowers and a sign that said: "Welcome Home. Next Mission—Kiss Me."

Paglia is among those returning home as part of the U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan.

Others—such as Marines who left from Camp Pendleton, CA, on Monday—are embarking on their final missions to the south Asian country, "ending the game" after 13 years of war there, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Approximately 38,000 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan, Time magazine reports.

The U.S. has prepared an agreement to keep an unspecified number of forces in Afghanistan after 2014, which the country's President Hamid Karzai has not signed, according to Military Times. Officials expect he is waiting for the results of an April election, The Washington Post reported.