Most summer nights, Picadilly Circle in the Kings Grant neighborhood of Evesham Township is fairly quiet. There may be the occasional yells of children playing, a dog or two barking or the singing of the crickets and cicadas as the sun sets, but the street is an otherwise peaceful community tucked back in the woods just off of Tomlinson Road.
Wednesday was not one of those quiet nights, however. More than 100 neighbors, volunteers, first responders and government officials were yelling, cheering and clapping as Picadilly Circle resident and U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Tyler Jones pulled his truck into his driveway just before 8 p.m.
The celebration awaiting Jones as he arrived home was no ordinary party. Operation Yellow Ribbon organized a surprise welcome home ceremony for Jones, who just completed a deployment to Iraq.
Jones was escorted home by a group of motorcycles from Warriors’ Watch Riders as well as members of the Evesham Township Police Department. He was thrilled just to receive that, but never expected to see a huge crowd of people outside of his home on Wednesday.
“Honestly, I thought I was just getting escorted home,” he said. “To see the support from the community, it’s just a beautiful thing. It totally surprised me.”
Jones has served in the Air Force for the past 17 years. He enlisted shortly after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, saying he felt there was a higher calling for him to keep the residents of the United States safe. He has been deployed and stationed around the world many times over the past 17 years and has lived in numerous places in the U.S. Jones’ most recent role during his Iraq deployment was as air liaison for the country’s airspace.
Serving one’s country is important for the entire Jones family. Tyler’s wife, Shelly, also served in the Air Force. The two first met when they were stationed together at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. The two got to know each other well as they were neighbors in the dorms. They got married six months after they first met and have now been married for 15 years.
“It’s doing something bigger than yourself for a bigger purpose,” Shelly said about serving in the Air Force. “It’s experiencing as much as you can and loving every experience, good or bad.”
Since moving to Evesham Township two years ago, Tyler, Shelly and their three sons have begun to get involved in the community. The one thing Tyler is looking forward to over the next few months is spending time with his family and friends.
“We’re just going to enjoy life for the next few months and then get back into the swing of things,” he said.
Having only lived in the township for a short time, Tyler was blown away by how many organizations and people came out to support him, and even Shelly, who knew about the surprise beforehand, was stunned when she actually got to witness the celebration.
“It was breathtaking,” Shelly said. “I couldn’t even envision how amazing it would be. To see it, it was an incredible wave of emotion. It was so powerful.”
Tyler felt the support he got Wednesday was proof the family moved into the perfect town.
“Marlton felt like home the day we got here,” he said. “We never want to leave. We want to stay here forever. Marlton is just a great community.”
