Some of the most beautiful videos lately are of soldiers returning home to their families. It’s almost impossible to watch these clips and not become immediately emotional as families reunite with loved ones after a long time apart. Expect more of the same with this video, where a father surprises his son on a football field after returning home from deployment.
Flying Home
In this shot, the “North American” airline is flying Master Sgt. Joseph Martel, a 480th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit member, home after an Afghanistan deployment.
Reunion Time
This still shot from the video shows soldiers’ family members walking to a greeting area. While some soldiers like to surprise their families, others like to have their families run into their arms.
Flags and Posters
As this photo shows, it’s very common for soldiers’ family members to bring flags, posters, and other materials to welcome home their family members. Young kids, in particular, often make “welcome home” signs for older siblings and parents.
Exiting the Plane
The first soldiers are off the plane in Germany and greeted by other soldiers who welcome them back home. Based on similar videos over the last two decades, it’s common to see soldiers welcoming other soldiers back home.
Mom and Dad
This is the first image we get to see in the video of Master Sgt. Joseph Martel reunited with his wife. While his wife appears to be wearing a sweatshirt from their son’s school, the son doesn’t know his dad is returning home today.
Let’s Play Football
As the Master Sgt. makes his way to the football game, the game is already underway. The two teams are fiercely engaged in trying to score touchdowns.
Number 70
As Mom and Dad arrive at the game, Master Sgt. Martel is number 70 on the opposing team, playing against his son. This is an all-too-common video approach we see with soldiers returning home who dress up to surprise their loved ones.
On the Field
With the game stopped so the captains could greet each other, Dad walks onto the field while his son remains unaware that he has returned. Their celebratory reunion is just seconds away.
Time to Embrace
Dad’s helmet has come off, and it’s time for father and son to hold each other and happily be reunited after an unknown time apart. You can see it better in the video, but the son’s reaction to his dad is immediate emotion and joy.
Tears of Joy
As is the case with every reunion video between soldiers and their families, the tears don’t take long to flow. Something about these reunion videos makes both the participants and the viewers equally emotional.
A Dad’s Love
No matter how old a dad gets, there’s just something about embracing a family member that never goes away. The love between father and son here is brightly shining, and we know they had another moment to embrace after they were both out of uniform.
Watch the Full Video
If you want to get a sense of the power of this reunion, watching the full video is the best thing you can do. There is almost zero chance you can do so without breaking into a smile and maybe a tear.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Jacob Lund/Shutterstock.com.
