Being in the military comes with a lot of sacrifices not just for the personnel but their families, too. They have to go through long months and even years of not seeing each other or being together. This meant missing important milestones and celebrations with the family.
U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Jason Webb knows how tough it is for his daughter to grow up without him. He understands the hardships and sacrifices of his daughter so he decided to make a huge surprise for her when he returned home after 2 years of deployment.
The entire school was in on the big surprise that was planned.
Haley Webb was celebrating Veteran’s Day Assembly at school with the rest of her classmates and teachers. Because she’ll be performing, she wanted her father to be around. She even asked him if he could be on temporary leave.
She asked her Dad if he could take a special leave.
Jason, however, was quick to make it clear that requesting a temporary leave won’t be possible. Although disappointed, Haley completely understood.
Her principal knew how much Haley wanted her father to celebrate with them. So when Jason asked if the school can help him surprise his daughter, they quickly agreed.
It turns out that Jason had already been granted leave even before Haley asked if he could come home for the celebration. He simply kept it as a secret to surprise his beloved daughter. The only people he shared the secret with as the family who worked hard and got in touch with the principal to plan and arrange the surprise.
On the day of the celebration, Haley was playing her instrument as part of the school band. After their performance, she was asked to come up on stage and read an introduction for their school’s special guest. Her speech highlighted their guest’s special achievements in the service.
Haley began to suspect something could be up.
In the middle of her speech, Haley noticed something odd in the story she was reading. Halfway through, she actually thought that it was about her father. However, knowing that he was still deployed in Korea, she dismissed the thought.
Something special just tugged her heart and she just couldn’t completely dismiss the idea. There’s something inside her that just made her think about her dad endlessly. When Haley looked up to the audience, she saw a very familiar figure. Right then and there, she started crying in front of everyone.
Plenty of tears filled the room.
With the rest of the audience, she saw his father in his uniform. When he walked towards her, she cried even more. As if to make up for the lost years, Haley hugged her dad so tight.
Were you surprised? – U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Jason Webb asked his daughter.
Even with her dad injecting humor to the situation, Haley couldn’t stop crying.
And she really can’t be blamed for her reaction. The two have missed so many occasions with Jason’s line of work. Even during her birth, his father wasn’t around because of his deployment.
This day turned out to be one of the most memorable moments of her life. For her, Christmas definitely came early for the family. His return home is a surprise she won’t be able to forget forever.
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