A soldier returned home after a 13-month deployment to surprise her stunned triplet sister at work before reuniting with her mom at home.
Private First Class Shay Radtke, 19, from Wisconsin, enlisted with the U.S. Army at age 17 and has been deployed in South Korea for over a year.
The time away was tough as Shay is an identical triplet and incredibly close with all her family, especially her sister Jordan, who she describes as her best friend.
So after arriving back on home soil, Shay went to the restaurant Jordan works at, where her colleagues told her they had a surprise out front she needed to come to see.
Completely unaware her sister was back home, she nervously peered out to the front of the house to see what was happening before being left in total shock and bawling tears while the pair hugged.
The sisters then left the restaurant after Jordan’s manager gave her the afternoon off and picked up some flowers on the way home to surprise their mom who also had no idea she was coming home.
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Shay said: “My sister is my best friend – we go everywhere together, so to be this far away and for so long has been the biggest struggle.
“Our goal was to surprise her at work while she was in the back because it was unexpected.
“The closer we got to her work the more anxious I got – I was so shaky but so excited.
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“Many people came up to us crying because of how sweet it all played out.
“We grabbed flowers for my mom later, who also didn’t know I was coming home.
“A lot of friends and family who watched my video told me they had bawled their eyes out.
“The message to take away would be to keep your family close and never take time with them for granted.”