MADISON, S.D. (KELO) — No matter the sport, all athletes appreciate when their family and friends are attendance, but sometimes there are certain obligations that don’t allow family to be at every contest.
That was case for Chief Warrant Officer 4 McCord Pankonen, who recently came back from over seas and surprised his son Brayden on Saturday night.
“Hey buddy, how are you doing,” McCord Pankonen asked. “I missed you buddy.”
“I missed you,” Brayden Pankonen said.
“I hope I didn’t mess up your game,” McCord said.
“No, you’re fine. I’m happy you’re here pop. I love you,” Brayden said.
“Love you,” McCord said.
McCord Pankonen serves in the 34th Infantry Division in Minnesota and for the last ten months he’s been deployed in Iraq, providing stability operations in the region.
“We just look at it as our time to serve our country and with that, we know folks back here, especially my wife and others have to keep things together,” McCord said.
“We are proud of him. He loves to do it. He loves the USA and he loves the red, white and blue and we know he’s been doing it since he was about 17 years old,” Brayden Pankonen said. “It’s just something that he was raised with and he’s been doing for a long time. We understand, but at the same time, he’s my dad and I do miss him.”
Brayden is a sophomore for the Dakota State men’s basketball team. His father has been following him online, but still missed the opportunity of watching in person.
“It’s how good of a teammate he is. He’s just respecting referees, coaches, his teammates and he’s always there to lend support and help a player up,” McCord said.
Saturday’s surprise was long overdue, reuniting a veteran and his family.
“To actually give him a hug and feel him and to just tell him good luck and hope he has a great game, it just seemed like I haven’t done that since almost a year,” McCord said.
“Get to see him in person, give him a hug, he’s my guy at the end of the day, we’ve been together for a long time,” Brayden said. “Really happy to see him here.”
The Trojans would fall to Mayville State, but Brayden said it did help knowing his dad was back in South Dakota.
