In a place where crowds are a given and homecomings happen every day, a couple of hundred people — mostly strangers — gathered to surprise one man in a way that doesn’t happen every day.
Sherra Basham has never met Lance Cpl. John Thomas Doody or his family. She heard about him coming home and decided that people needed to show up at Denver International Airport to honor the 26-year-old Marine.
“I’m here to show a Marine how much America cares for his sacrifice and everything he’s done for us,” Basham said. “For me, it’s every American in these United States taking a moment to say, ‘Thank you, Lance Corporal Doody.’ ”
Basham got about 75 of her friends to come celebrate the Marine’s return.
J.T., as most people call him, was shot three times in the leg in Iraq in 2007. Then, the infection he contracted paralyzed him and put him in a coma. On Wednesday, he arrived back in Denver, alive and able to talk — a miracle, the way his family sees it.
“Makes me have goose bumps,” said Cyndi Larson, Doody’s cousin. “So excited. John’s gonna love it. He deserves everything he gets.”
About 30 members of Doody’s family were at DIA for the homecoming. They hadn’t seen him in more than two years.
When Doody’s mother, Chris Ott, wheeled him out of the elevator at DIA, the crowd went wild, clapping and cheering.
“Oh, my God, this is awesome. There are so many people here,” Ott said.
Recently able to speak again, her son didn’t say much, but what he did say, said it all.
“I love home,” Doody said. “It’s good to be back.”
See video from the homecoming at .
