ACTON – There was not a dry eye at the Meadowlark Elementary assembly Monday when Major Kevin Van Stone walked on stage to surprise his son, Austin.
The United States Air Force Major returned home, after months of deployment in Afghanistan, and headed to the school for an emotional reunion with his fourth grade son.
Austin and his dad usually communicated through FaceTime calls while dad was deployed. Unfortunately for Austin, his dad’s orders kept getting changed, so dad was delayed in getting home.
“We decided that we would surprise [Austin] by having a special phone call and a FaceTime with his dad, but his dad was here,” said Meadowlark Elementary School Principal Kim Tredick.
On Monday, March 10, the school’s fourth and fifth grade classes gathered for an assembly to discuss the Medal of Honor Character Program. At the end of the assembly, Principal Tredick asked if anyone knew a “Major Van Stone.”
Austin spoke up, and took the stage to take the FaceTime call. During the call, out walked dad!
“Words can’t describe the kind of experience that we all had,” Tredick said. “It’s tough on our kids when they don’t have their parents with them; and to see the pure joy of this boy’s reaction, it just really took everybody’s breath away.”
View the emotional video above.