Supermodel, television personality and singer Tyra Banks is well-known for her success on her own Emmy-nominated talk show, as well as hosting and judging America’s Next Top Model. She’s even been ranked as being among the world’s most influential people by Time magazine, a lauded achievement both as a woman and an African-American. And while she’s eager to bring up and explore a wide range of topics on television, ranging from weight discrimination to the authenticity of her own breasts, she has yet to address a personal development in her life that many fellow Americans can identify with – the deployment of a family member to Iraq.

Tyra’s older brother Devin Banks is a long-standing member of the United States Air Force, having served in the armed forces for over 15 years. Tyra has mentioned in the past that her brother was previously stationed in Japan at one point, with her commenting about it to the aspiring supermodels during a visit of America’s Next Top Model to the land of the rising sun. She has also joined Devin in seeing and comforting injured servicemen, mainly at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. While she and her older brother grew up with typical sibling rivalry, and even under the difficulty of having divorced parents, the whole family still stayed friendly and respectful towards each other.

Along with her mother Carolyn, Tyra met up with her brother and his wife for a send-off dinner at the Chin Chin eatery in New York City, located on 49th street. With The Tyra Banks Show presently filming in the Big Apple, its namesake host recently moved there and currently lives right in the city. The meeting between the two siblings was reportedly emotional, with plenty of “kissing and hugging," and simply confirming the accounts of brother and sister having a strong bond. This type of farewell has become commonplace all over the U.S., as most people agree that for whatever reasons the war has been fought, the only thing everyone really wants is for their loved ones to come home safely.