Soldier Homecomings

Six-year old Baylee was celebrating her birthday with her kindergarten class by sharing a poster of her favorite things. Among them were chocolate and her father, Sgt. Adam Page, who has been serving in Afghanistan for as long as Baylee has been alive. Just when Baylee mentioned her beloved dad, her teacher told her to turn around because there was a surprise.

Some of the most heartwarming videos on the internet are of soldiers returning home from war surprising their family members in a creative way. The military wife in this clip got more than she bargained for when her husband delivered her meal to the table at a Chick-fil-a restaurant.

We've all seen the heartwarming videos of soldiers stationed overseas surprising their children stateside with early returns home. And that's how this video of Capt. Cherissa Jackson, who had been deployed in Afghanistan, begins, with mom surprising her daughters Anita and Ashley at a Gaitherburg, Maryland Kentucky Fried Chicken. But then it gets even more touching.

Christmas may have come and gone but there is still magic to marvel at from this joyous holiday, like the magic that granted the wish of a little girl who only wanted her soldier father back for the holidays.

On Monday, Sgt. Jamee Gains, an Oklahoma National Guard soldier returning from Afghanistan, gave her family the best early Christmas present possible: herself.

As a little girl named Alexis makes a presentation to her class, her military dad, who's fresh home from Afghanistan, makes a surprise appearance. (Sniff! Sorry, this kind of thing always gets us.)

A soldier dad from Kentucky gave his two sons a birthday surprise last week that they'll likely never forget. Capt. Nate Burgess, who had just returned home after serving in Afghanistan for the past year, decided to surprise his two sons on their birthday. So, he wrapped himself up as a life-sized G.I. Joe birthday present and gave himself as a gift.

Is there anything more adorable than a dog greeting its owner? How about a dog greeting its owner after they return home from military deployment? We dare you to watch this supercut of lovable pooches welcoming their owners home from military service and not get choked up.

Staci Lowe got the surprise of her life at a Kansas City Chiefs game on Sunday when fiancé William Bell, an Army staff sergeant who wasn't expected home from Iraq until later in the week, ran onto the field during halftime.

Get ready for your heart to melt! This Army dad surprised his nine-year-old daughter at a spelling bee in Boca Raton, FL after a 10-month tour of duty that separated him from his family, 'Today' reports.

We admit it. These things make us misty. Army Specialist Matthew Peters of Owensville, Missouri spent a year deployed in Kuwait and Iraq, and hadn't seen his young son, Blake, in more than six months. When he came home, he decided to pop in on the unsuspecting tyke at school for a hug the kid will probably never forget.

Soldiers know the value of surprise, especially when returning home from active duty to their loved ones. When Joey found out he was getting sent home from Kuwait two weeks earlier than anticipated, he spent the three months prior planning to surprise his mom at the UPS sorting facility in Lansing, MI where she works.

We've seen some pretty heartwarming homecoming scenes involving military personnel and their family over the years. Humans don't have a monopoly on ecstatic welcomes, though -- when this massive great dane named Emmitt Thunderpaws sees his master return home from deployment, he gives him a touching, slobbery embrace for the ages.

When four-year-old twin sisters Gracie and Ruby Weichman showed up at the ballpark on Monday night to watch their hometown Spokane Indians take on the visiting Yakima Bears, they had no idea that their father, Air Force Sargeant Chris Weichman, was planning a surprise homecoming during the game.