Kids at Light Up Appleton were writing letters to Santa on Saturday night, and one Little Chute boy got his wish early.
Marine Sgt. Troy Nieland surprised his two sons by coming home from his deployment in Japan. His five-year-old son, Drake, asked Santa for his dad to come home. Three-year-old Harley also hugged his dad.
Nieland spent seven months away, and he says you don’t realize how much you miss until you’re gone for that amount of time.
His wife, Mary, helped set up the surprise with the organizers of Light Up Appleton.




