An entire family was left screaming in shock when their military son returned home from duty to surprise everyone at his brother's wedding. Brothers Jake and Billy Winn, from New York, are extremely close, and so it was always Billy's dream for Jake to be present on his big day. For the past two and a half years, Jake, 21, has served as a private first class in the United States Army in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with limited time off. Jake hadn't been home for six months, and because the previous occasion he was home was for his stepfather's funeral – a period of leave that lasted longer than expected – Jake was unsure if he could make Billy's wedding in the same calendar year. Having spoken to his leadership, though, Jake was granted the extra time off he requested. He decided he wanted to surprise his family, and so he only told his father, George, 49, who helped plan his son's trip home to New York State. On September 9, at Billy's wedding at The Barn on Hyder Creek in Richfield Springs, New York, the groom gathered for a family photo with the likes of his sister, Sara, 19. As the group stood posing, Jake, dressed in military attire, walked in, causing everything to scream in complete shock at the surprise.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 I wasn't supposed to be at the wedding.
00:02 I've been in the army almost three years now,
00:11 and I've come home multiple times before,
00:16 but every single time is always different.
00:19 - This time, it'd be right in time
00:21 for his brother's wedding.
00:23 Jacob and William have always been close.
00:26 - We slept in the same room since we were kids.
00:29 We slept on bunk beds,
00:30 and then we ended up getting twin-size beds.
00:32 We were still in the same room,
00:33 playing Uno on the ground at midnight.
00:36 - And their bond has only grown over the years.
00:40 - Being both first responders,
00:42 there's a lot of stuff that happens,
00:45 and making sure we're both okay
00:47 is the best thing we can do for each other,
00:49 especially if we talk to each other every day.
00:51 - So when his brother was getting married,
00:53 all he wanted was to be there for him on his big day.
00:57 - It was very important.
00:58 I knew I had to be there.
01:00 - But military training on the same day
01:03 meant he wouldn't be able to.
01:05 - It would've been terrible for me to miss it.
01:07 You know, it only happens once in a lifetime.
01:09 - But then...
01:10 - I got lucky, and the training got pushed back a few days.
01:14 It was a crazy feeling.
01:15 - Yeah, it was definitely,
01:17 definitely one that was a very, very low chance of happening,
01:20 and it hit right on the mark to be able to happen.
01:23 - And he kept it a secret,
01:25 but he told us it wasn't easy.
01:27 - It was very hard.
01:28 I was playing, I play Xbox with him practically every day
01:31 after work, and I'm constantly talking to him
01:36 about the wedding, trying to find out little details
01:38 to help me with how I'm gonna surprise him and everything.
01:41 - And that day to surprise him finally came.
01:45 - The feeling of being able to be there
01:47 after knowing for like the three months
01:49 that he had it planned for
01:50 that I wasn't gonna be able to go,
01:52 it was like a, it was a gift, honestly.
01:56 My heart was racing.
01:57 I was so excited to be there,
01:59 and for some reason nervous,
02:01 because I knew that people didn't know I was coming,
02:03 I didn't know what people were gonna react like.
02:05 (cheering)
02:07 - What?
02:10 - Oh my God!
02:11 - Wow!
02:16 - Oh, it's so good to see you.
02:20 I'm so glad you're able to make it, man.
02:23 - It was ecstatic.
02:24 I was very, very happy.
02:26 We've been together through life a lot,
02:28 and we've experienced some similar things together,
02:31 and it was very, very happy
02:32 to be able to see him there that day.
02:33 To be able to experience getting married
02:36 with my brother around is definitely something
02:38 that I'm very happy to have happen.
02:39 - Mom sees you now.
02:41 - They even brought him in as one of the groomsmen.
02:44 - Like our family is very close knit.
02:46 We have a very, very close family.
02:48 Everything, at the end of the day, comes down to family.
02:51 That's how it always has been.
02:52 So, I can't come home for holidays.
02:54 I still have people sending me presents in the mail,
02:56 sending me letters, texting me, calling me,
02:59 making sure I'm doing okay, and everything like that.
03:01 You know, coming home and seeing everybody,
03:03 it's just every single time, it's the best feeling ever.