SEARCY, Ark.—The day of graduation is often seen as a day to remember because of how truly special the event is. For Chance George, the son of Jerome and Bambi George, the day was even more significant.

In November 2007, George’s father, a specialist in the Army, was deployed to Iraq for the third time. He’s not due back in Searcy until January.

Family members feared that he would not get to witness his son’s graduation from Searcy High School on May 10. It appeared that watching the event eight months later on videotape would be the only way the elder George would get to see his son’s march across the stage.

That is where John Brown with the Searcy School District and the Freedom Calls Foundation stepped in.

According to Brown, it was the graduating senior’s mother who initiated the whole event. Brown said Bambi George saw a news broadcast about a Freedom Calls-related event, and called the company, who then contacted Brown at Searcy High School.

Through both Searcy High School and Freedom Calls Foundation, Jerome George was able not only to watch his son graduate but also to talk to him after the ceremony.

On the evening of May 10, Chance George said, it was the selfless efforts of Brown that made what seemed impossible at the time happen.

“Mr. Brown is the true story,” George said. “It had been set up at the football stadium and when (rain began and they) moved it to the Benson Auditorium, nobody knew if it would work. Freedom Calls Foundation said they had never had someone work as hard as Mr. Brown did in pulling this off. He did it on his own time, not getting paid for it. He truly went above and beyond what he had to do.”

Following the graduation ceremony, which started at 7:30 p.m., Chance was taken to an office on the Benson Auditorium’s second floor so he could talk to his father directly. He said it was a true thrill to be able to talk to his father. Weeping happy tears, George said his father told him something that he longed to hear.

“He told me he was very proud of me,” George said. “Those are big words to come from a man like him. He won’t be back until January of 2009 so what Mr. Brown did was amazing. He truly went above and beyond in setting this up technically. I will always be very grateful to him.”

According to Bambi George, the reunion between her son and husband was something that no one in her family will ever forget.