Video: Soldier returns from 17th tour overseas, surprises kids

A soldier gave his children the best surprise they could ask for when he showed up at the front door after spending months overseas.

Captain Devin Rockel of North Carolina has called Southwest Asia home for the past four and a half months, but on Wednesday night all that changed.

His wife Katrina, who was previously on active duty with the Air Force, tells FOX46 that she told her children that she was going out with friends and that the neighbor was going to watch them. Katrina went out alright, straight to the airport to pick up her husband for the big reveal.

The entire reunion was captured on cell phone video.

The video shows Devin walking up the steps and ringing the doorbell. Before opening the door, his daughter peers through a window. As soon as she realizes that the person on the front porch is her father, she immediately swings open the door and rushes out to greet him.

No stranger to going overseas, this will have been Devin’s 17th tour between active duty military and active duty national guard.

Welcome home Captain Devin Rockel!