WICHITA FALLS ( KFDX/KJTL ) — A second-grade class at Fowler Elementary played host to a very special surprise for one student Friday morning.

It was a normal day in reading class for second-grader Julio Rodriguez when his dad showed up to surprise him after being deployed with the U.S. Navy for several months.

As seen in the video, the teacher is reading a book to her class seated around her when the classroom door suddenly opens.

“Knock, knock, knock!” the senior Julio Rodriguez said as he entered the room. His son ran up to hug him. “What’s up, little buddy? I missed you so much!”

Overwhelming joy filled the room, and some tears were shed as E-6 naval officer Rodriguez was finally able to hug his youngest son after being deployed for nine long months in Africa.

He said being able to come home and experience a special moment like this with his wife and kids means everything to him.

“[It] just means the whole world, and my wife and I weren’t expecting something this big; we were just going to surprise him,” Officer Rodriguez said. “He’s the youngest out of four, and the older three have already experienced something like this, so, thank you so much for doing this; I just wanted to surprise him.”

Officer Rodriguez has the rest of this month off before he reports to his command, and he said he’s looking forward to spending it with his family.

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