Second grader Zoey Thompson was enjoying a beautiful field day with her Catawba Elementary School classmates on Friday, April 7, in Columbia, South Carolina.
But nothing could have prepared her for the surprise that awaited her on that playground.
The young girl was with her classmates on the playground when, suddenly, a most familiar voice was heard behind her.
Zoey turned, and she couldn't believe her eyes. Then the owner of the familiar voice began to laugh.
Her shocked mouth dropped even more, and, while a camera recorded everything, the voice yelled "Come here, baby girl!"
This snapped her out of her stunned paralysis, and she excitedly ran forward — and into the waiting arms of her dad, United States Army Captain Joseph Thompson!
Captain Thompson had been stationed overseas in Afghanistan.
The dad and his daughter hadn't seen each other in over a year.
The sacrifices that our men and women in uniform make to serve their country never cease to amaze me — imagine not being able to see your kid for over a year!
"I missed you so much," Zoey tells her dad in the video below. "Like, more than when I was born. Way more than when I was born. That's how much I missed you."
Captain Thompson told WISTV he didn't know how he made it through the surprise, as he was so weak with happiness upon finally seeing his little daughter in person.
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