Deployed soldier surprises wife at work for their anniversary with early homecoming

When military servicemen on deployment learn of their return-home date, some might start to plan a memorable homecoming to surprise their loved ones. For one soldier from Oregon, he had to go to great lengths to surprise his wife, and his efforts paid off.

Sergeant 1st Class Jason Johnson, a flight medic with the Oregon National Guard, has been on four deployments overseas in his more-than-20-years career as a soldier, and was originally due to return home by Feb. 9, his birthday.

While others would be glad to return home on their birthday, Jason and his wife, Sandi, thought otherwise. The reason was that the couple would not be able to celebrate their first anniversary on Jan. 7 together.

So Jason tried to find a way to return home earlier. He sought help from his friends and eventually one friend came through.

“I had a good buddy in the unit the same amount of time who took pity on me and let me take his spot,” he told Statesman Journal.

Jason was now set to return home on their anniversary day; however, he still had another task to do—coordinate his homecoming surprise for Sandi. To accomplish that, he needed help from Sandi’s co-workers.

Sandi is an ER nurse at Salem Hospital, and fortunately, Jason previously worked there as an ER technician, which made it easier for him to contact colleagues there.

When Jason arrived at the hospital, the charge nurse distracted Sandi so others could usher Jason into an exam room. Once everything was prepared, the charge nurse took Sandi to the room on the premise that she needed assistance.

Illustration - Getty Images | Joe Raedle

When Sandi entered the room and saw Jason lying on the exam bed, she couldn’t contain her happiness.

“I was in total shock,” she said. “It was really a collaborative effort to bring us together.”

While Sandi did not cry at the surprise because she is “not really a crier,” many of her co-workers were in tears.

“As I was walking by everyone, they saw me in uniform and knew what was happening, and everyone in the ER started crying,” Jason recalled. “It was pretty neat to see how moved everyone else was.”

Watch their sweet reunion in the video below:

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