Soldier Comes Home And Surprises Son At School During Fake Assembly

BURLINGTON COUNTY, N.J. (CBS) -- An assembly in Burlington County on Friday was supposed to be about school safety, but it wound up setting the stage for a soldier's welcome home.

Friday was a half-day and a special school assembly was held at Bernice Young Elementary School. For a second-grader there, life probably couldn't have been any better. The students got to waive flags and two students took the stage, holding up signs while the students gave them clues as to what was on the front of the signs.

One of the students on the stage, Joseph Adams, didn't realize what was written on the front of his sign and he certainly didn't realize how much better his day was about to get.

The sign that Joseph held read on the front, "My dad just came home from South Korea and is standing right behind me!"

"I left Korea, went to Japan, Japan to Washington State, Washington State to Washington D.C. and finally to Philadelphia," said Joseph Adams Sr. as he described his long trip home.

"A little nervous myself," Adams said of surprising his son. "I haven't seen him in awhile so, it's been a year and I'm curious to see how he's going to react.

For the past year, Adams has been away from his family, which has been as hard for him as it's been for them. "In the beginning, it's the hardest," said Adams' wife Tammy. "Then, towards the end, it's still hard and the anticipation gets worse, but I'm just glad he's home again."

Tammy went on to describe the moment when her son turned around on that stage and saw his father. "It's amazing. It's probably one of the most memorable experiences that I can imagine."