A pair of siblings were given two beautiful surprises at school when their soldier dad returned home from deployment after nearly a year overseas.
For James “Keith” Williams, from Union County, South Carolina, deployments are always tough, with his family having to come up with coping strategies for daughters Aly, 14, and Morgan, 10.
When Keith, a master sergeant with the U.S. Army National Guard, headed off to the Horn of Africa in June 2023, it was the second deployment Morgan had experienced and the third for Aly.
And so, when returning home after almost a year, Keith knew he wanted to make the moment extra special for his girls.
Usually, the family would travel together to collect Keith upon his return, but, on this occasion, Keith decided to have his dad collect him from the airport so he could head straight to his daughters’ schools and surprise them.
At Morgan’s elementary school, in the middle of physical education class, the school’s assistant principal snuck Keith into the gymnasium behind a curtain.
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As it happened to be ‘Month of the Military Child’, a teacher called Morgan up in front of the class and expressed how grateful she and Morgan’s classmates were for her bravery during her dad’s absence.
Then, Keith was called from behind the curtain, which caused an emotional Morgan to jump into her father’s arms on stage for a long-awaited hug.
It was then onto Aly’s middle school, where an assistant principal walked into Aly’s classroom and explained that it was Month of the Military Child, too.
Aly was asked to pose for a photo for the school’s website, but as she stood at the front of the class, Keith was then called upon for the big surprise.
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The teenager’s emotion was clear for all to see as she hugged her father, with Keith’s wife, Erica, capturing both of her daughter’s surprises on video.
She said: “It was so emotional seeing their faces light up when they saw their daddy again for the first time.
“It’s so easy sometimes to think, ‘oh they’re just kids, they’re resilient – things probably don’t bother them as much.’
“But seeing them run to their daddy and the tears on their faces really melted my heart and made my heart feel so heavy and light at the same time.
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“I hope people see these videos and know there are good men and women constantly fighting for our freedoms here in the United States, and they sacrifice so much to do so.
“They lose so much time with their family, miss so many special events, milestones, or even just ordinary everyday events that can never be returned.
“But they still put those uniforms on and go to work to make sure we have the ability to wake up in one of the greatest countries in the world.”