By Joseph M. Morgan and Tyler Pruett

RAINSVILLE, Ala.—Sgt. 1st Class Johnny Stewart has been the talk of the town this week in Rainsville. Today Rainsville First Baptist Church is hosting a welcome-home celebration for Stewart and his family in the fellowship hall of the church from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m.

Stewart, who also serves as the Rainsville Police Chief, has had quite a welcome since his return earlier this week from a 9-month deployment with the U.S. Army in Kosovo.

A touching scene unfolded at Cornerstone Academy on Wednesday when Stewart surprised his children at a student assembly at Cornerstone Christian Academy. Stewart's children, Trey age 9, and Caroline age 3, had no idea that he was coming home this week or that he was going to surprise them by showing up in full uniform at their school.

“I had to be at Fort Bliss for seven days to out process and demobilize,” Stewart said, “It was hard to keep it a surprise for the kids.”

Stewart said he has certainly felt the love and appreciation from the community since getting back, but said he had already felt it in a big way while still deployed. While in Kosovo, the City of Rainsville promoted Stewart to Chief of Police when Charles Centers resigned a few weeks ago

Stewart has already served the City of Rainsville for almost 20 years as a police officer. He served many years as the assistant chief, and has a wealth of knowledge on the day to day operations of the Rainsville Police Department.

When asked about the promotion, Stewart expressed his gratitude to the community for trusting him with the top police job. “I’m excited about the opportunity,” Stewart said. “I live here, my kids obviously go to school here, and I really want to see our community go forward. It's good to be back."

To read the full story about Stewart's surprise homecoming at his children's school earlier this week, visit: http://southerntorch.com/surprise-homecoming-2/.