--- title: Afghanistan Soldier Surprises Daughter: Video description: Watch a soldier surprise his daughter in a field of pumpkins canonical: https://time.com/3529007/afghanistan-soldier-surprises-daughter-video/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-21T17:16:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:13:56.981Z og:title: Watch a Soldier Coming Back From Afghanistan Surprise His Daughter at a Pumpkin Patch og:description: A homecoming captured on video og:url: https://time.com/3529007/afghanistan-soldier-surprises-daughter-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch a Soldier Coming Back From Afghanistan Surprise His Daughter at a Pumpkin Patch twitter:description: A homecoming captured on video twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch a Soldier Coming Back From Afghanistan Surprise His Daughter at a Pumpkin Patch  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Oct 21, 2014 5:16 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Oct 21, 2014 5:16 PM UTC North Carolina mom Meg Kaplan filmed the moment when her husband surprised his daughter at a pumpkin patch. He was deployed to Afghanistan for 10 months, and the family is stationed at Fort Bragg, [The TODAY Show reports](http://www.today.com/parents/watch-adorable-video-soldier-surprising-daughter-pumpkin-patch-1D80230627?adbid=10152830700466350&adbpl=fb&adbpr=12566691349&cid=sm%5Ft%5Fmain%5F1%5F20141021%5F34123047). In the video, he sneaks up behind her as she’s posing for the camera and exclaims “Pumpkin Day!” Then she turns around and starts to sob. We dare you to watch this clip and not get at least a little choked up as well. **MORE:** [#TIMEVets: Exploring the Profound Effects of War on Those Who Serve and Their Families](http://time.com/vets) **PHOTOS:** [12 Portraits That Illustrate the Pain and Joy of Returning to Civilian Life](http://time.com/3462111/veterans-the-homecoming-project/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3529007/afghanistan-soldier-surprises-daughter-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3529007/afghanistan-soldier-surprises-daughter-video/"},"headline":"Watch a Soldier Coming Back From Afghanistan Surprise His Daughter at a Pumpkin Patch","datePublished":"2014-10-21T17:16:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:13:56.981Z","description":"An emotional homecoming captured on video","url":"https://time.com/3529007/afghanistan-soldier-surprises-daughter-video/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Family & Relationships"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3529007/afghanistan-soldier-surprises-daughter-video/","name":"Watch a Soldier Coming Back From Afghanistan Surprise His Daughter at a Pumpkin Patch"}}]}] ```