Soldier surprises mom

By Dan Bewley, For NEWS 9

A soldier's mom got the surprise of her life from a cardboard box.

Sabrina Mitchell thought her 45th birthday party would be missing her son. He's in the National Guard and stationed in Iraq, but then came a big box carrying a big bombshell of its own.

"We was tugging on it trying to get it open because of the tape," Mitchell said.

The box said it was a La-Z-Boy inside.  

"I pulled it back and looked in and seen this camouflaged," she said. "It's the best present I could have ever asked for," said Mitchell.

Specialist James Hancock wanted to surprise his mom when he got to take his 30 day leave a month earlier than expected, to time it perfectly with his mom's 45th birthday. His plan was to wrap himself as a birthday present.

"All I was thinking was trying to be as still as possible and as quiet as possible that way nobody knew and heard," he said.

The family recorded the surprise and posted the video on YouTube. The video is located at the bottom of this page.

At 17-years-old he joined the Army National Guard, six years later he's re-enlisting.

"I feel like this is what God wants me to do; this is what he put me on this earth to do," Hancock said.