Military father comes home early and surprises children at Hershel Elementary school

Sgt. Raymond Kokel from the Army Public Affairs Division has been serving six months in the Middle East and wasn’t scheduled to come home until November. Monday morning, he decided to stop by Hurshel Antwine Elementary school to surprise his two children.

To keep the visit a secret, faculty at the school told students they were having a surprise guest reading to them.

Kokel then appeared on a screen reading out loud to the students, after a few minutes he came out from behind a book case and his two kids ran up to give him a hug.

“When I finally saw them it was awesome,” Kokel said. “It was good to see them after so long.”

Kokel also said he still had one more visit, he was heading to a middle school nearby to surprise his older daughter.