It should go without saying that the brave men and women who serve in the military deserve the utmost respect.

Not only do they put themselves in harm’s way to keep the rest of us safe, but they also sacrifice a lot of other things that too often fly under the radar.

My father was a military man, and I’m proud of him for that. Even so, I can’t tell you how many birthdays, weekends, weddings, and other events he missed while me and my siblings were growing up. I know he hated that aspect of it, but sadly there was little he could do.

It can be difficult for young children to properly understand why their serving mother or father is away so often.

Equally, it can be extremely difficult for mothers and fathers to deal with the fact that they’re away from their kids for so long.

Which is why reunions are often tear-jerking affairs.

You’ve likely seen videos online of soldiers seeing their sons or daughters for the first time in months after having been on overseas deployment.

But you might not have seen anything quite like the video we’re about to show you. Reportedly, it was filmed back in 2014, when a group of service men and women returned home after spending nine months in Afghanistan with the National Guard.

One soldier among them had particular reason to be excited over her homecoming: her three-year-old son, Cooper, was waiting for her.

We can only imagine the storm of emotions raging inside little Cooper that day, when he sighted his mother for the first time in almost a year.

Needless to say, he ignored the rules and made a run straight at her. The mother/son reunion unsurprisingly stole hearts all over the internet, going viral in the process.

Watch Cooper and his mom reunite in the video below: