Army Sgt. Surprises Son At High School Graduation Ceremony

MARSHFIELD (CBS) – A Marshfield High School student got his diploma, then was in for the surprise of his life during his graduation on Saturday.

When his name was called and he grabbed his diploma, Tyler Solomon wondered why the principal held on to him.

"I thought what's going on right now, why is he stopping? I need to sit down in my seat," Tyler said.

What Tyler didn't know, and only a select few did, was that his dad, Army Sgt. Damon Solomon, was hiding nearby, back from his deployment in Kosovo to see his son graduate.

"That face he made, I will never forget, because I knew it was authentic," Sgt. Solomon said. "It was him saying both you're a jerk, as well as I love you and thank God you're here."

And then came a long hug, and through the tears, father and son almost didn't hear the standing ovation from the crowd.

"I'm still at a loss for words trying to process it, it all happened so fast," Tyler said.

"I wanted him to feel that because he deserved that, he's been through so much in my deployments, he deserves to be recognized from my perspective for enduring," Sgt. Solomon said.

Dad had pulled similar stunts during his 18 years in the National Guard and five deployments with surprise visits in elementary and middle school. But he set this one up perfectly, with a message on Facebook a few days back apologizing for not coming through this time, only to be Johnny on the spot Saturday.

"He said it was his last one, so it better be his last one," Tyler said.

Sgt. Solomon was a little worried about the surprise because he didn't want it take away from all those other teens grabbing their diplomas. But after he heard the ovation, he figured it probably made everyone's graduation more exciting.