Returning Lynn soldier surprises granddaughter

LYNN – Hood Elementary School kindergarten student Abigail Vestal got a big surprise Wednesday.Her grandfather, Sgt. 1st Class Fred Vestal, 49, of Lynn, showed up at the small school on Oakwood Avenue shortly before dismissal time and paid a visit to her class.The 5-year-old knew her soldier-grandfather had arrived home the previous night from his third deployment to the Middle East, but she didn’t expect to see him so soon.A full-time member of the Danvers-based Massachusetts National Guard 101st Field Artillery, Vestal has been training police detachments in Afghanistan since January.”Abigail was so surprised,” said her mom, Rebekah Vestal of Eutaw Avenue. “And my father hadn’t seen Lily, my 1-year-old, since she was born in November 2009 because he left for Afghanistan in the middle of January.”The kindergartener hugged her grandfather in the school hallway while infant Lily looked on, along with the family’s great grandmother, Janet Devost of Lynn. Vestal’s wife, Nancy, was at work in Boston. Several relatives had attended the soldiers’ homecoming at Camp Curtis in Reading late Tuesday, where Vestal was taken after landing at Hanscomb Air Base.”I’m glad to be home,” said the soldier, dressed in his digital cammies, complete with a holiday stocking hat to match. “I just went to Mino’s to get a super beef 3-way with large fries. I really missed those.”Vestal, who has been in the National Guard for 19 years and six months, went to Iraq for the first time in 2004 when his daughter, Rebekah, was a high school senior. He returned home in mid-2005 only to leave again for another deployment in 2007 that ended in 2008.During the latest deployment, he was stationed in Kabul, where he was part of a team mentoring Afghan police officers from three different native law enforcement departments. While in Kabul, he was able to spend some time with friend Ross Thibodeau of Swampscott, also deployed to the war zone.Vestal has another daughter, Sarah, 26, of Reading, and a son Benjamin, 20, of Lynn. Asked if he plans to stay in the military, Vestal said he is reevaluating his career. “Haven’t decided yet,” he said. “I was just promoted to 1st sergeant while I was over there.”Rebekah Vestal put it this way, “It’s his job. It’s what he does. Since I was little he has always been a soldier. Some people are meant to do it.”