When Keaton Tilson enlisted in the US Army as a mechanic, he knew that in the years that would follow what he was going to miss the most would be his family.
Indeed, after enlisting in late 2016, he got stationed in Fort Hood, Texas. And, although he returned home in Granite City, Illinois, for Christmas, he then spent another five months far from his family.
The 19-year-old soldier was convinced that he would not be allowed to fly home for Memorial Day that year.
But then on Thursday evening before Memorial weekend, he was given green light to travel back home.
Although it was very short notice, he rushed to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and spent the night there, hoping to get on the next flight with a standby ticket.
And, even though things looked good at the beginning, things soon got a disappointing twist.
“It looked good at first,” Tilson’s mom, Jennifer, told CBS News. “There were open seats. Then something happened, and he kept missing flights and missing flights.”
The young man was quite upset and he kept asking the gate agent if there was something else he could do. He even considered going to another airport to catch a flight home.
While the gate agent did her best to help him, she finally admitted that it didn’t “look good”.
Tilson at that point started thinking that he would probably not make it home in time and that he wouldn’t have the chance to surprise his three siblings.
You see, his 17-, 11-, and 6-year-old siblings would have loved to have him around on that special day, but their mother hadn’t told them anything about Keaton going back because he might not make it home for the celebration.
“I had to keep quiet because he was surprising his siblings,” Jennifer said. “I didn’t want to tell them in case he didn’t come.”
And, just when the young soldier was about to give up, a stranger approached him and things took a turn for the better.
A man, later identified as Josh Rainey, told the gate agent that he was willing to give up his own ticket so that the young man could catch the flight. He explained that he would catch a later flight.
However, this could not happen because of airline restrictions, so Tilson thought he was back to square one.
But Rainey was determined to help the boy. After all, he reminded him of his own father, who had served in the military for thirty years.
After calling his wife and explaining the situation, they both agreed that the right thing to do was buy a ticket for the soldier and help him return home.
The young man was shocked when he was offered the $375-worth ticket by the stranger. He was so grateful and happy to be going back home that he asked if he could give him a hug.
That definitely was an emotional moment between the two.
What a wonderful act of kindness and generosity.
Is this a heartwarming story? Watch the video below to see an interview with the two gentlemen!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
