An Air Force sergeant and father of two surprised his 6-year-old son at school Wednesday, a day after returning home from a year serving in South Korea.
“I’m nervous, excited,” said Sergeant Andrew Beck before the big surprise.
“He thought that I had about a month left or three weeks left, so hopefully he’ll be pretty excited about that,” said Beck.
Beck has been gone for a year. His youngest son Troy was only five days old when he deployed. Troy got his surprise early.
“He kept reaching out and touching his face this morning, it was amazing to see,” said Andrew’s wife, Jillian Beck. “He knew exactly who he was.”
Now it was Andrew Jr’s turn. Bay News 9 walked into his classroom where children were told we were filming for their 1st grade newscast. However the facade didn’t last long.
When Andrew Jr. saw his dad he said with a surprised and joyful look, “hi dad!”
The two shared probably the longest hug they’ve ever had. As they both told each other they missed each other with tears in their eyes. “This is the best day of my life,” said Andrew Jr.
After their long embrace Andrew Jr was ready to spend time with dad. “Are you excited? Daddy’s home baby,” said Jillian Beck, holding Troy who couldn’t stop giggling.
“I really missed my dad, I’m really happy for him to be back,” said Andrew Jr.
When we asked if the experience was everything Beck had hoped for he replied, “it was more it was perfect.”
“Like he said, best day of my life too,” said Jillian Beck.
The family said the first thing they were going to do was go bowling.
The Beck family will have some time to spend together. Beck will be based in Oklahoma next month but the family will get to come along.