Ricky Libengood, who has served in the Air Force since 1999, was fortunate to return home to Apollo from Saudi Arabia in January. But the chance to enjoy family and friends wasn’t the only gift he received when he got home.

Students from Burrell High School’s National Honor Society showed their gratitude for Libengood’s service Thursday morning by giving him tickets to see his favorite sports team — the Pittsburgh Penguins.

About 46 honor society members awaited in the school library for the Libengood family’s arrival and gave them a warm welcome.

Honor society president Anna Novak introduced Libengood, who was presented with a pair of tickets to see the Penguins play the Carolina Hurricanes on March 13.

“It was nerve-wracking but great to see their faces when they received the tickets,” Novak said.

Libengood, 41, a longtime Pens fan, was appreciative of the students’ gesture.

“It was awesome the kids got together to do that,” Libengood said.

Since coming home from his final deployment in Saudi Arabia, he said having more free time to do things has been an adjustment.

Mandy Libengood, Ricky’s wife and the secretary to Burrell’s director of student services, thanked the students for their continuous support of veterans. Knowing about the surprise ahead of time, she was excited for her husband.

“I was so thrilled, and it is such an honor that they take an interest in military families,” she said.

The organization had sent care packages to Libengood last Christmas after looking for local veterans to honor for Veterans Day in November.

Libengood enlisted in the Air Force out of high school. He has been deployed to many places, including Kuwait, Afghanistan and Diego Garcia, an Indian Ocean island that is a military base.

During his time in the military, he has worked as a civil engineer who helped build bases, runways and schools. Libengood became an E-7 master sergeant in 2015.

He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for his role in leading personnel in multiple construction projects and supporting the successful journey of evacuees out of Afghanistan.

Libengood said he looks forward to retiring from the military next year. His family looks forward to it, too.

“Our family is very proud of Ricky for serving our country, and we admire his strength and determination to support our country,” Mandy Libengood said. “We are glad he is home, and we can spend more time with him when he retires.”

Honor society Vice President Alanna Leslie said planning for the surprise started in late January. She said everyone involved wanted to put a face to the name after having sent him the care packages.

“We thought it’d be cool to meet him in person,” Leslie said.

Principal John Boylan said recognizing those who serve the nation is important and said he thought the honor society’s ticket gesture was a great idea.

“Our National Honor Society has done so many great things for the community, recognizing not only those in service but also those who give back to the community,” Boylan said.

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