It's Veterans Day and what better way to celebrate than a Navy officer surprising his family after being deployed for nine months?
Happy tears flow as a family reunites after this father of four was deployed to the Middle East in February.
"I've sacrificed a lot for my country," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Tino Salas. "My family sacrificed a lot for the country as well. So for my kids to see me on this special day, coming home, it's something you can't explain."
Salas has been in the Navy for 16 years and this was his first overseas deployment.
"It's really hard, very hard."
Now, on Veterans Day, he surprised his children at Parsons Elementary School in Gibraltar.
"My kids have no clue I'm here. They don't know what's going on today. They think it's a Veterans Day assembly. Because that's what my wife planned," he chuckled."
Tino got in Wednesday and his been hiding out before the big surprise.
"Couldn't stop touching him. 'You're really here.' And I cried like a baby. I was pinching him and poking him," Tino's wife, Kristin Salas, said."
During the big reveal, Tino's oldest daughter, Kylie, broke down in tears.
She said, "I'm just really happy."
The family will kick off their weekend a little early and they look forward to making plans this holiday season.
