Brett Beaver is an Army Private Second Class.
He is also a really great older brother.
Beaver’s younger sibling, Max, is just 7-years old and clearly looks up to his Army brother very much.
The brothers are originally from Michigan but for the last year, Brett had been stationed at Fort Myers in Virginia. Judging by their emotional reunion, being apart was evidently quite difficult for both of them.
Brett couldn’t wait to visit his little brother.
“It was the first thing on my list,” Brett said to MLive about visiting his brother upon returning to Michigan.
The Beavers are a military family, with several members having enlisted throughout the years. Brett was trying to follow a proud family tradition when he joined the Army in 2017. Being away from his brother was harder than he thought, however.
The brothers used FaceTime to communicate over their time away from one another.
“It’s kind of hard being away from home, because we really love each other,” Brett said. “The first person I would take a bullet for would be him.”
Many members of the Beaver family are deaf, as it runs in the family on their father’s side, including Brett’s younger brother.
Little Max attends the Michigan School for the Deaf.
Brett learned sign-language at an early age to be able to better communicate with his deaf relatives.
When Brett returned to Michigan, he kept it a secret.
He wanted to be able to give his little brother a memorable surprise. Brett showed up at his brother’s school and spoke with the staff before seeing his brother.
“I just walked in and they were like, ‘Who are you?’” he said.
“They asked, ‘Does he know you’re here?’ and I said no and they got all excited.”
Brett hid behind a door to not give away the surprise too early.
A staff member from the school motioned Max into the room and informed him that they had a very special surprise for him. It’s easy to see that the staff were genuinely excited for him.
While little Max maybe didn’t want his older brother to see him cry, he couldn’t fight back tears at the emotional reunion.
“What’s wrong? Don’t cry,” said the older Beaver brother to Max. “He’s like, ‘I’m not crying’ and then he just hides (his face) away.”
Many viewers of this emotional moment will focus on Max’s beautiful reaction, but one shouldn’t overlook how genuinely happy Brett is in the video either.
Imagine how he feels having been gone from his family for so long. To be greeted with such love and affection from his little brother meant a whole lot to him.
“By far, the greatest moment of my life,” Beaver said or the reunion.
Beaver was able to spend the holidays with his family that year.
Unfortunately, many people in the military are separated from their families for long periods of time. The toll of being away from your family can be hard for everyone involved. The separation does occasionally result in emotional reunions, however.
See their precious reunion in the video below.
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