A girl who thought she was watching a military performance for her birthday was left stunned when it was her Marine dad returning from deployment.
Amélia Cogo, from Hawaii, thought she was heading to a special Osprey show with her mom, Jessica, 34, and sister Líliana – but little did she know her father, Victor, had planned a special surprise.
Victor, a captain with the United States Marine Corps, had been on deployment since March, and when he found out his return coincided with his daughter’s birthday, he wanted to plan a special surprise.
On September 23, at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, in Kaneohe Bay, Jessica and her two girls watched a series of Ospreys fly overhead, with one carrying Victor back from the ship he had been based on in the Indo-Pacific region.
Once the helicopters had landed, Jessica presented Amélia with a card and photo of her and her dad from Victor’s last deployment, a way of letting Amélia know something special was about to happen.
Jessica then explained to Amélia her dad was in one of the helicopters they’d just watched overhead, and she would be able to reunite with him very soon.
With a cellphone video rolling, Amélia and Líliana later made their way through a sea of Marines for an emotional reunion with their father.
Jessica said: “I gave her a card as he landed in the Osprey with a photo of the last deployment as a way to tell her she was getting another special reunion that way.
“I explained to her that her daddy flew in on the Ospreys we were watching overhead, and he was home just in time for her fifth birthday.
“Amélia had picked her dad out in the sea of marines and knew exactly where to run for her first hug in six months.
“There are many other military spouses out there currently walking this road.
“It’s a hard season, and it’s even harder to remember these difficult times do indeed pass.
“Days feel like they last years, but the months feel like a blip in time when you are looking back.”
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