We all know that members of the U.S. military make huge sacrifices for the rest of us when they leave home to serve our country, but what many don’t think about is the sacrifices that their families end up having to make as well. Their families are separated from their loved ones for months at a time, oftentimes not knowing if the person they love is safe or not.

Hayden Nieznanski is a 10 year-old boy from Laguna Niguel, California who knows all about the sacrifices made by military families. His dad, Marine Master Sgt. Jeremy Nieznanski, had been deployed overseas for the last seven months, and Hayden wasn’t expecting him to be home for another two. In the video below, you’ll see Hayden get the surprise of his life when his dad comes home early to surprise him!

The video begins with Hayden standing up to read a letter to his Marine dad at his local YMCA with his 5 year-old brother Maxwell by his side. Suddenly, the class began whooping with joy as Jeremy walked in the door, and it took Hayden a few seconds to realize what was going on.

“At first, I just saw his uniform and I just thought it was a random Marine walking in,” Hayden later said. “Then I looked up and I saw his face.”

Both Hayden and Maxwell immediately ran into their dad’s arms as they were overjoyed to see him.

“So you wrote a letter? This is to me?” Jeremy said to them. “Well, I came home today, I’m back.”

“It means everything to me, to see my wife and my kids today,” Jeremy later said. He went on to praise his wife Amanda, who orchestrated the surprise, for being the “real hero” for taking care of the children, working at her job and for putting “out all the fires” while he was serving overseas.

“I feel like we’ve all went through a lot,” Amanda said. “To have him home is an overwhelming feeling, to be able to surprise them, it’s an overwhelming feeling.”

Check out the joyful reunion for yourself in the video below!