(ABC) - On September 8th, country music star Toby Keith performed in Houston Texas.
During the show, he surprised a young lady by bringing her up on stage before singing his hit song, "American Soldier." Near the end of the song, the woman's husband surprised her by walking out on stage after coming home early from Afghanistan.
The singer paused during his September 8 show in
Houston, Texas, to ask the audience if there was anyone in the crowd with a
loved one currently on operational tour. The spotlight fell on the woman as
her friends cheered and waved excitedly, pointing at her and shepherding
her toward the stage. 'Come on sis,' Keith encouraged her as she looked up,
startled, and saw herself on the big screen behind the singer.
With the help
of those in the front row and crew members , she was hoisted onto the
platform, a camera tracking her and blasting her image on the screen. 'How about
we do a little tribute to your husband out in Afghanistan?' Keith asked as
she beamed, taking deep breaths so as to remain controlled. She proudly
told Keith her husband's name, rank and that he was at that moment out in
Afghanistan.
Little did she know what Keith had in store as she joined him in a
rendition of his song American Soldier, dedicated to Major Pete Cruise.
Struggling to flight back tears, the woman raised her hand to her temple,
giving a shaky salute as Keith asked the crowd to join him in thanking
all the men and women out fighting for their country.
The song ended and one
of Keith's support guitarists began to play the Star Spangled Banner.
Confused, the woman looked around, not knowing what was going on, as a man
walked onto the stage from behind to hand Keith his guitar. Her face lit up and
she gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, as she recognized the man
in his green camouflage combat uniform. It was her husband, unexpectedly
back from the desert. As the U.S. National Anthem blasted out around them
the pair embraced, kissing and hugging, not wanting to let each other go.
The crowd whooped and cheered, clearly deeply moved by what they were seeing.
Eventually they turned to face the audience, still not letting go, and waved
to a chorus of cheers and applause. The woman beamed, throwing one arms
tightly round her husbands neck. With the other she frantically wiped the
steady flow of delighted tears from her cheeks and pushed her hair off
her face, appearing completely overwhelmed.
Maj Cruise gazed happily at his
wife, accepting Keith's congratulations and shaking his hand, before
returning his attention to making up for lost time. 'She didn't know he was
coming here tonight,' Keith told the crowd, watching their touching display
of affection.
'Welcome home Major Cruise, thank you so much.'
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