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Moment Kids Reunite With Military Dad Has Internet in Tears: ‘Finally Home’


You may want to grab a pack of tissues before watching the tear-jerking moment a little girl and boy are reunited with their dad on his return from military deployment.

Racking up 477,500 views, the footage shows the moment their daughter sprints over to her dad followed by her toddler brother after five long months apart. The heartwarming video was captured by their mom Mads (@madnatorr2) who regularly shares content on TikTok about being a military wife.

The clip captioned: “This little girl struggled so much while daddy was on deployment. We’re just so happy he’s finally home!” has received over 33,000 likes. During the video, the trio can be seen kissing and cuddling, which has reduced the internet to tears.

One user said: “Balling my eyes out, my husband is about to leave and I’m already excited for this moment.”

Another said: “Me balling cause I was also a daddy’s girl and deployments are the worst.”

A third commenter wrote: “It’s 10 a.m. and I’m crying in the Starbucks drive [through]. Thank you to your husband for his service.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs defines a deployment as the assignment of a service member from their home station to a location outside the United States.

The United Service Organizations website also states that, on average, military deployments last between six and 12 months. However, the duration of deployments can vary significantly depending on the military branch, specific situations, and individual circumstances of each service member.

Kids reunite with dad
A stock image of two young children reuniting with their military father at home. The internet has been left in tears after watching a similar moment on TiKTok.

jacoblund/iStock/Getty Images Plus

To help the children deal with their dad being away for almost half of the year, the parents made a “deployment wall.” Using brown paper as the background, they attached a map and pin pointed where he was going to be. Mads also printed out monthly calendars and purchased stickers of her husband’s face so the children could count down the days.

“This deployment wall really helped them visually understand that daddy isn’t gone forever and he’ll be back soon,” she wrote on another video.

They also visited a Build-A-Bear store prior to him leaving to make them a teddy with their dad’s voice in it so they could squeeze it for comfort at any time. Along with a cushioned doll of their dad which was their favorite.

In another video, Mads shared how the family went above and beyond to ensure her husband had a warm welcome home. She can be seen decorating their home with banners, balloons, buying his favourite treats, and baking him a cake.

Newsweek reached out to @madnatorr2 for comment via TikTok. We could not verify the details of the video.

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