We apologize for being a day late with this video.
It clearly should have gone live on Veterans Day.
But we think you’ll forgive us once you actually watch the footage, which features a canine playing what he presumes to be a regular game of fetch.
Except when he returns from nabbing his tennis ball, he finds someone else has joined the fun: his soldier of an owner! Back from a long deployment!
Check out the video to see the dog’s excited, very vocal reaction, as we’d like to imagine him saying some version of the following:
OH MY GOD, YOU’RE HOME! YOU’RE HOME! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! NEVER LEAVE ME AGAIN! WANNA PLAY FETCH? IT’S REALLY, REALLY FUN!
Because they never fail to bring a tear to our eye, here’s a look at many other instances of dogs greeting their heroic owners: