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Father, daughter reunite at school

| 21 Sep 2015 | 02:32
    Army Sergeant First Class Roland Tajalle and his daughter Rai'Ana, 5, enjoy cookies in kindergarten teacher Connie Horn's classroom.
    Army Sergeant First Class Roland Tajalle and his daughter Rai'Ana, 5, enjoy cookies in kindergarten teacher Connie Horn's classroom.
    Army Sergeant First Class Roland Tajalle received many high-fives from the students as he walked down the hall of Walnut Ridge Primary School.
    Army Sergeant First Class Roland Tajalle received many high-fives from the students as he walked down the hall of Walnut Ridge Primary School.
    Army Sergeant First Class Roland Tajalle and his daughter RaiþÄôAna, 5, walk down the main hall of Walnut Ridge Primary School.
    Army Sergeant First Class Roland Tajalle and his daughter RaiþÄôAna, 5, walk down the main hall of Walnut Ridge Primary School.
    Army Sergeant First Class Roland Tajalle and his daughter RaiþÄôAna, 5, embrace each other in the main hall of Walnut Ridge Primary School.
    Army Sergeant First Class Roland Tajalle and his daughter RaiþÄôAna, 5, embrace each other in the main hall of Walnut Ridge Primary School.

VERNON — Last Wednesday was a special day, not only for the children at Walnut Ridge Primary School, but also for a very special father and daughter who hadn’t seen each other for many months, as Army Sgt. First Class Roland Tajalle reunited with his kindergarten daughter, Rai'Ana, during a surprise visit to the school.

According to school principal Rosemary Gebhardt, earlier in the week, Rai'Ana's mother called her to ask if Roland, who recently returned from his fifth deployment to Afghanistan, could reunite with her at the school.

The entire student body lined the main hall of the schools as Tajalle received a hero’s welcome as he searched the smiling little faces until he came upon his daughter. In addition to cookies for a snack, the students also presented him with a card that read, “Dear Sargent [sic] First Class Roland Tajalle, Thank you for all that you have done for our country. You are our hero.”

— Photos by Chris Wyman