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Thirteen-month old Everett Newkirk walks to his father, Navy Quartermaster III Anthony Newkirk, for the first time at Newkirk's homecoming in Virginia Beach. Newkirk, of Syracuse, had been deployed with the Navy for eight months. He worried his son wouldn't recognize him when he came home. But the toddler walked right to him.

(Provided photo)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- When Anthony Newkirk deployed with the Navy in the spring, his son, Everett, was five months old.

He didn't walk or crawl. For the next eight months, Everett only saw his father in pictures.

As Newkirk prepared to come home, he readied himself for the worst: That his child wouldn't recognize him after months away.

Newkirk is a quartermaster and handled navigation on the U.S.S. Carter Hall.

"I thought he would be nervous and shy. I thought he would turn away," said Newkirk, who is from Syracuse. He said his friends and wife, Stephanie, told him not to be upset. It would just take time for his son to remember him.

Stephanie Newkirk took Everett to the Little Creek Joint Expeditionary Base in Virginia Beach to welcome their soldier home Thursday morning. As he approached in a military caravan, she wondered what would happen. Would Everett go to him? Should she hug him first? As she wondered, Anthony Newkirk got out of the truck and started walking toward his waiting family.

Without hesitation, Everett took off and toddled right to his father. Anthony Newkirk scooped up his son and held him close.

"It beats even coming home," Newkirk said.

Contact Marnie Eisenstadt at meisenstadt@syracuse.com or 315-470-2246.

