A soldier surprised his three children by showing up at a school assembly when he returned home from an overseas deployment to Kuwait.

Spc. Robert Goins, with the New York National Guard, had been deployed for nearly a year. His wife, Anastasia, reached out to Council Member Andy King to help plan the surprise return. They chose the school as the location because Goins, too, was once a student there.

Goins reunited not just with his children, but his own fourth-grade teacher. He did the teaching this time, talking to students about Black History Month and the importance of doing well in school.

As he waited to see his children that day, he tells News 12, he felt like he was back in boot camp.

"I'm just tapping my feet, you know, I'm just maintaining my discipline," he says. "I felt like I was in boot camp again."

His son described the surprise as "the best day ever."