Tearjerking moment soldier surprises his nine-year-old son after being stationed away for 10 months – by stepping into the boy’s taekwondo class as his sparring partner

• Staff Sgt. Rob Cesternino had been based in Middle East for almost a year
• Came to son Luca’s combat training class are sparred with him blindfolded
• Boy stops training as he recognises his dad’s voice and hugs him in flood of tears

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This is the beautiful moment a US soldier surprised his nine-year-old son by sneaking into the youngster’s taekwondo session to be his sparring partner.

The boy went into a flood of happy tears after seeing his dad who had been away on deployment for 10 months.

Blindfolded Luca Cesternino had no idea what was about to come next as he swung punches at the mystery body in front of him, thinking it was all part of a training routine.

Staff Sgt. Rob Cesternino (centre) with his son Luca (right) and his wife Leah (left) when they reunited 10 months after Rob was deployed to the Middle East

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Little did Luca know, though, his trainer at Success Martial Arts Centre in Lebanon, Tennessee, had switched places with his father, Staff Sgt. Rob Cesternino.

Towards the end of the drill on Monday, Staff Sgt. Rob Cesternino can be heard saying ‘Hey Shib’ – a name he used to call Luca when he was younger.

The words instantly sparking a reaction from his son, saying ‘Daddy?’.

Stopping in his tracks, Luca fights to remove the blindfold before immediately diving into his father’s arms and breaking down into tears.

Staff Sgt. Cesternino hopped into the youngsters taekwondo session to become his surprise sparring partner

The 9-year-old had no idea about the surprise and happily swung punches at the mystery body in front of him, thinking it was all part of a training routine

Applause rang out all around the training centre as the pair embraced, with Rob telling Luca, ‘I love you, and I’m so proud of you. You were such a big boy while I was gone’.

The pair were also joined by the staff sergeant’s wife, Leah, who helped organise the surprise and was praised by Rob for caring for son Luca while he was away.

Speaking to the Lebanon Democrat, Luca said: ‘I was, like, wow! Everybody came here to see my dad and me.

‘It’s just excitement. I felt joy in my heart – I will never leave his side.’

Luca’s father can be heard calling out ‘Hey Shib’ – a name he used to call Luca when he was younger – and Luca thinks he recognises the voice

Luca rips off the blindfold before immediately diving into his dad’s arms and before breaking down into tears.

The staff sergeant returned from deployment on Sunday but had to then spent 24 hours in seclusion.

The staff sergeant left with the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 230th Sustainment Brigade in May 2018.

‘I love you, and I’m so proud of you. You were such a big boy while I was gone,’ dad Rob could be heard saying to Luca

From there, the unit headed to Kuwait, with Rob also spending time in Jordan and southern Syria.

As well as the surprise reunion with his son, Rob was also treated to a special homecoming by the local community.

With the help of Leah, a project saw locals decorate Lebanon Square and other areas of the city with yellow ribbons to welcome Rob back and celebrate all veterans.

Rob added: ‘The person we both have to thank is Luca’s mom and my wife, Leah.

‘It starts and ends with her – she makes us better.

‘If you are a husband or a wife of a service member, if you are a child of a service member, they deserve more applause than we get, because they have a tougher row to hoe.’

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