Daughter’s Sweet Hug for Soldier Dad Melts Hearts

Jennifer O'Neill

The 300 soldiers lined up at the homecoming event for the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, in Fort Carson, Colo., on Tuesday may have all looked the same in their uniforms, but one little girl knew exactly which man was her dad.

Breaking into a joyful sprint toward her father, Lt. Daniel Oglesby, little Cara Oglesby stole the show at the ceremony — wearing an appropriately festive red-white-and-blue outfit — wrapping her dad in a big hug as the rest of the soldiers stood stiffly in formation. The video of the emotional moment went viral on Facebook, where it’s been liked more than 2,000 times in less than 24 hours.

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“[Cara] decided she wanted to say hello a little early,” the father told Fox 21 News. (Yahoo Parenting was unable to reach Oglesby for comment.) “I was trying to decide whether or not it was good practice to break formation, but I didn’t have the heart in me to not give my little baby a hug … and kiss on the forehead.”

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After eight months of separation while Oglesby was stationed in Asia, he told KKTV, “She was excited. She spotted me from a couple rows back and she couldn’t contain herself. I wasn’t gonna tell her no.“

And while some commenters on Facebook criticized the dad, noting that “nothing should distract a solider,” and others worried he’d get flak for his affection — “Many of my army buddies that come home get in trouble for wiping away tears of joy before they are released,” wrote one commenter — most agreed that the father-daughter reunion was both delightful and well-deserved. “Thank you,” declared another writer on Facebook, “to both the soldier and his daughter … for their respective sacrifices.”

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