Aviano 'prince' wins hand of returning warrior

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Julie Weckerlein
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy (AFPN) --  After being off to war for more than six months in a country ruled by royalty, it’s fitting that an airman from here returned into the waiting arms of her Prince Charming.

Well, actually, Prince Charming wasn’t waiting; he was running a few minutes late, and Tayeisha Gibbs was not happy.

The senior airman from the 31st Fighter Wing Command Post returned to Aviano Air Base on June 27 after being deployed to Kuwait for nearly seven months in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The plan was for her boyfriend of 11 months, Senior Airman Willie Taylor of the 31st Security Forces Squadron, to greet her at the Aviano passenger terminal when her aircraft arrived.

“He was about 20 minutes late,” Gibbs said. “I was so mad. I had my first sergeant and all these commanders looking for him. It was not funny.”

But true to many a fairy tale, Taylor did arrive just in time and with all the grandeur of a true prince. Armed with flowers and followed by a small fleet of friends and coworkers, he marched into the terminal with one thing on his mind: ask Gibbs to marry him.

Lt. Col. Kevin Murnane, 31st Mission Support Squadron commander, was at the terminal to welcome the returning airmen. He witnessed everything as it happened.

“He did the right thing and brought flowers with him when he walked in. That, right away, changed them from funeral flowers to wedding flowers. And once he got down on his knee, the entire room got quiet. All eyes were on (him), and everyone knew what was coming next, but that didn’t deter him at all,” Murnane said.

Gibbs was shocked into silence, but quickly found her voice when she realized what was happening. “I immediately said, ‘No way. You can’t do this. Not here. No way.’ It was such a surprise.”

But that did not stop Taylor. He pulled out a diamond ring and asked the question everyone was anticipating.

“I said ‘yes’ even before he finished asking it,” Gibbs said. The crowd met her response with applause. Taylor was more than pleased.

“You know, I got a little choked up as I was asking her to marry me. I did the man thing and held it back, but it was there,” he said.

Taylor said he knew he was going to ask Gibbs to marry him a few weeks before her return from Kuwait.

“We’ve talked before and admitted we loved each other, but it was during that time she was gone that I realized she was really the one for me. That whole ‘distance makes the heart grow fonder’ thing, that was so true here. I just realized she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” he said.

He got the ring and arranged for some friends to come along with a video camera. He clued in his squadron commander, Lt. Col. Joseph Romano, who was able to help Taylor get all the paperwork and assistance he needed to do the engagement and arrange for a marriage ceremony to take place shortly afterward.

Those close to the couple are not surprised by Taylor’s actions.

“The boy is a true romantic in every sense of the word,” said Senior Airman Catrina James, Taylor’s friend and coworker, who witnessed the event. “He sent rose petals to her for one of their anniversaries. They were sending each other letters and packages all the time. And he called her as much as he could. This couple is simply madly in love with each other.”

Gibbs and Taylor exchanged marriage vows July 2 in a civil ceremony at a local Italian city building. They are hoping to remain together here for the rest of Gibb’s tour.

No matter what is in store for them in the future, one thing is for sure: The engagement itself will not be forgotten.

“It was just incredible,” Gibbs said. “I felt like I was in a movie.”