An Australian army lieutenant's stirring reunion with his son at a school assembly has been captured in a heart-warming video.
Lt Michael Anderson was deployed to Afghanistan to serve in the Australian Army seven months ago, leaving behind his son, William, who had been missing him ever since.
As a way of thanking Mr Anderson and other soldiers for their service to their country, William's school, Highlands Christian College in Queensland, sent letters and care packages to the soldiers overseas, reports news.com.au.
Their warm thanks were returned by Mr Anderson on March 1, when he organised a very special gift to arrive at William's school, and a camera was there to capture the touching event.
Footage posted on the Queensland school's Facebook page begins with Mr Anderson sending a video message to the school.
"Hello, Lt Michael Anderson here. Firstly, I would like to just say hi to my son, William Anderson, hey buddy. I will see you very soon and am looking forward to getting home mate and giving you a big home. I miss you mate," he said.
The video shows William visibly emotional, with one hand over his month and the other wiping tears from his eyes.
"I would just like to say thanks for all the care packages and the letters everyone at the school has sent over to us. That support goes along way with all the soldiers," he said.
"It gives us plenty of fond memories of opening them up, some of the jokes, some of the questions and that that everyone wrote us."
Mr Anderson then gets up and says he is going to grab a gift he is sending to the school before appearing on stage behind William as the school crowd claps.
After the pair embrace, the father presents the school with a banner with his platoon's symbol on it as well as the signatures of other soldiers.
The video has been viewed more than 93,000 times since it was posted on Wednesday, and some commenters have said it brought them to tears.
"Oh wow this brought tears to my eyes," said one commenters, while another said: "Yep I am a mess right now. Big tears streaming down my face."
"There is nothing better than seeing a faithful brave soldier coming back to their family."
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