On his retirement day, an FBI agent was reunited with the kidnapped newborn who he rescued next to a dumpster 22 years ago. He was stunned to find that the newborn is now all grown up and is a U.S. Marine.

Troy Sowers of Knoxville, Tennessee had been planning for a “very simple” final day at work with “coffee and doughnuts” to end his long career, but his colleagues had different ideas. They managed to find Stewart Rembert, now a U.S. Marine corporal, who Troy had rescued back in 1997 when he was still a rookie only a few months into the job.

Stewart had been abducted by a woman who was pretending to be a nurse, and she later dumped him in a box in an alleyway. Troy was able to convince the woman to tell him where she abandoned the boy, and he then found the infant alive.

Stewart was eager to give Troy a hug, saying he “wouldn’t even be here today” without him.

Just before going in to meet Troy, Stewart said that he was “excited” and could feel his “heart racing.”

“I’m going to meet the man who saved my life, like it’s crazy to think that without his efforts I wouldn’t even be here,” he added.

The room erupted in applause when Stewart walked in, and he made a beeline to a stunned Troy.

“My parents wanted me to give you a hug,” he told Troy. “I wanted to thank you for giving me the opportunity of a life.”

Troy remembered the case well all these years later, telling the room that Stewart had been missing for 19 hours when they finally got his abductor to reveal where he was. By then, Troy feared it was too late and that the baby would be dead.

“I pulled a baby out of a box… That was tough, I had to take a couple deep breaths before I started talking,” Troy said. “I always remembered that night when I picked him up, he was not crying he just nuzzled right into my neck and I knew he was fine.”

Troy remembers a senior agent pulling him aside afterwards and saying, “Troy, I’ve got to tell you, something like that – you’ll never do anything better than that.”

Troy was overjoyed to see that the boy he saved years ago went on to become a Marine.

“I’m extremely proud of him,” Troy said. “I’m glad [to see] what you’ve done with your life. Pass it on.”

“I mean I’m proud of anybody who serves others above themselves,” he later added. “The fact that he is willing to serve this country in the United States Marine Corps, I think, is just a perfect example of what we expect of everybody.”

Troy concluded by describing his meeting with Stewart as “the perfect bookend.”

“To end, seeing him again, it really just puts the final touch to a career,” he said. “I’m completely surprised they pulled this off, I did not know it all. I wanted something very simple, I asked for coffee and doughnuts and they shocked me.”

Check out the heartwarming reunion for yourself below.