Soldier surprises daughter at school

Soldier surprises daughter at Challenger Elementary
Posted: Sep 12, 2012
By Jamel Lanee
HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF)

Nalani Coates, 6 years old, thought it would be a normal day at school. Staff members at Challenger Elementary had a huge surprise in store for the kindergartner.

Her dad, David Coates, a U.S. Army service member came home a few days early to surprise her.

Nalani and her classmates are outside at the flag post calling for a soldier, but she doesn't realize it's her dad she's yelling for. When she realizes it's her father, she runs and gives him a huge hug.

Nalani hasn't seen him in over four months. She wasn't expecting to see him until Friday.

Her surprise left her in shock. The little girl is so stunned, she gives her mother a hug and then returns to sing a song with her class.

Coates said it's really tough to leave behind your family when you're in the service.

"It's really tough. It's one of those things that when you get to call home and you get to see how they're doing and it's like, 'Oh, we did this and we did that,' and you really wish you could be there," he said. "And I love serving my country, but the hardest part of any deployment of any kind of service of being away from home is being away from your children and your spouse."
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