New York first-grader has tearful reunion with military dad

BALDWIN, N.Y. — A New York first-grader received a joyous surprise Friday during a school assembly about Veterans Day, as she was reunited with her father, who had been deployed in Dubai, WABC reported.

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Students, staff and parents at Plaza Elementary School cheered when 6-year-old Brooklyn Reyes was reunited with her father, Air Force Staff Sgt. Jason Reyes, the television station reported.

The Long Island school staged a Veterans Day lesson in the school’s gymnasium on Friday. When a teacher asked if any children had parents in the military, Brooke was chosen to come to the front of the gym.

She talked about her father, who had been in Dubai the last four months and had yet to meet Bianca, his 2-month-old daughter, WCBS reported.

"My dad is a veteran that he does so hard and that I miss him a lot and that he helps our country," Brooke said.

That’s when Reyes, 35, appeared in the gym, and Brooke’s reaction was priceless.

"I held her, and I just started crying," Reyes told reporters. "My words, my emotions, everything -- everything was just gone. I was just crying."

Reyes has served two tours of duty overseas but will be home with his family for at least the next two years, WCBS reported.

Brooke said she has big plans for her dad, WABC reported.

"Get home and eat and play with him," she told WCBS.

Cox Media Group