Watch Soldier Surprise Little Sister After Deployment To Africa

JOLIET, IL — A little girl was overjoyed when her big brother, Army Private First Class Jacob Smith, surprised her upon his return home Monday in Joliet. Breanne Delaney, a student at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, talked about her brother "nonstop" while he was gone, teachers said. Smith recently returned from a six-month deployment to Africa with the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum, New York.

Delaney was having lunch with her classmates in the school, when a staff member announced that a special visitor was coming. When her big brother walked into the room in his full uniform, Delaney was shocked and overjoyed to see him, and ran up to give him a big hug.

Dozens of assembled students clapped and cheered for the two siblings. Teachers said the little girl was extremely excited that he had finally returned home.

Smith was deployed last September to Djibouti, Africa as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Top image/video via Plainfield Community School District.