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Surprise homecoming for Virginia Beach students

Posted at 1:09 PM, Apr 19, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-19 17:29:13-04

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va - Two Virginia Beach students received a major surprise at lunch on Thursday.

Kobe and Kal-el Williams were eating lunch at Alanton Elementary School when their principal made a brief speech on Month of the Military Child, which is in April.

Both boys were called to the stage to talk about their father, Gunnery Sargent Jarrell Williams, a Marine deployed for seven months in Kuwait. This most recent deployment was his third, and Williams said it was his hardest.

"Challenging, definitely emotional during that period. Missing the holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, my sons' birthday - so all the holidays [I was] basically missing out on," he said.

While on stage, the curtain behind them revealed that the boys didn't have to wait any longer to see their father. Holding back the tears, he had been hiding on stage waiting for the right moment to surprise his sons.

After a long hug and some tears, the family left school early to begin catching up on the last seven months. Williams will be home for several more weeks and said he plans on spending as much time with his family as possible.