Double surprise for an Air National Guard family

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Friedlander and his daughter Vivian are reunited (photo: Brewster Fire Department)

BREWSTER – Brewster firefighter James Friedlander surprised his two-year-old daughter Vivian when he returned home last week from a six-month deployment in Qatar.

While the little girl jumped into her daddy’s arms when she spotted him walking up the driveway of their home, it was the returning member of the Air National Guard who received a special surprise of his own when the sounds of sirens and air horns permeated the quiet neighborhood where Friedlander, his wife and daughter live.

Two dozen members of the Brewster Fire Department paraded their apparatus to welcome home their hero who is also a member of the FDNY.

Hugs, handshakes and pats on the back were bountiful.

Fire Chief Moe DeSantis said his department decided to “welcome home our hero in special fashion. We call it the brotherhood.”

Friedlander said he was “thrilled to be home; nothing like sleeping in your own bed. The days in Qatar were hot and each day that passed meant another day closer to coming home.”




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