The best graduation present

By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- Josh Lammerding says he didn't think his mother would make it home from Iraq for his high school graduation.
But because of a sudden leave granted by the Army National Guard, Sgt. Kimberly White was able to attend Josh's commencement at Liberty High School on Tuesday night.
They were spotlighted at the graduation ceremony.
"This is a beautiful thing," White said of her ability to attend the ceremony. "This is my oldest child."
Josh, 18, last saw his mother, of Columbus, during Christmas, just before she left with her unit, C Company, 216th Engineer Battalion based in Toledo. The unit also has troops stationed in Austintown.
White is a full-time training noncommissioned officer stationed north of Baghdad.
Since her arrival in Iraq, mother and son have been keeping in touch through e-mails and postcards.
Sought emergency leave
To be with Josh during commencement, White requested leave under emergency conditions. She had been turned down a couple of times.
On May 17, Josh e-mailed his mother, asking if she would be able to make it.
"I'm afraid it doesn't look good," his mother e-mailed him two days later.
"I was kind of mad, upset," Josh said, recalling his reaction. "I was disappointed. I understood."
In the meantime, high school principal John Young tried to set up a link so White could watch the commencement from overseas.
The arrangements fell though, Young said.
White said her leave was suddenly approved last week and she had an hour-and-a-half to make her plane. Three days later -- late Friday night -- she made it to the Howland home of her brother, John White, on Mistletoe Drive.
A surprise for the boys
Joseph and his 15-year-old brother, Edward, weren't immediately told of their mother's arrival. They live with their father, John Lammerding, on Mistletoe Drive in Liberty.
Josh said that as he and his brother walked toward their uncle's home, Edward said, "There's Mom."
"I thought he was kidding," Josh said. "We both did a dead sprint up to her."
White will be returning to Iraq when her leave is up.
"We all have a job to do. This just happens to be nice," she said.
Josh, who ran track and cross country in school, doesn't want any part of the military. Rather, he's going to study journalism at Youngstown State University, having worked on his high school paper, the Leopard Roar.
yovich@vindy.com