Soldier disguised as polar bear mascot surprises brother and dad at HS football game (VIDEO)

A soldier — who just spent nine months in Afghanistan — returned to his hometown and surprised his father and brother at at a high school football game by disguising himself as the Kentucky team's mascot.

WKYT-TV reports that Specialist Justin May put on the polar bear costume before a game featuring the Bracken County High School football team Friday night in Brooksville.

May, who also was wearing combat boots, was standing feet from his brother Ryan, a football player on the team, and his father Ronald, a team assistant coach, during the coin toss.

After the coin toss, May took off the mascot's head and turned to his father, hugging him. His brother ran up to them and joined the hug.

Ronald May says he is glad to see his son home safe. Justin May — who  had been gone a total of 11 months — said his mom masterminded the whole surprise.

Just a cold weather mascot with a heartwarming story.

Airman surprises son at football game disguised as opposing player (VIDEO)

MSgt Joseph Martel returned home from deployment in Afghanistan a month earlier than his son thought he was coming home. As soon as he got off the plane, Martel joined his wife and made a road-trip to Belgium to see his son Justin play in his high school football game... and also give him the surprise of a lifetime.

As a clever disguise for the family reunion, Martel put on the other team's uniform and hid his face in a helmet — holding his composure on the opposite sideline for three quarters.

Between the 3rd and 4th quarters, Justin wonders why a player from the opposing team comes over and starts to hug him at the 50-yard line — after the referees called a phony meeting to discuss sportsmanship. What everyone ended up getting was a lesson in father-son relationships.

Soldier mom dressed as referee surprises son at football game (VIDEO)

This may be the first time a player and a referee ever hugged each other before a kickoff and nobody complained about a conflict of interest.

A U.S. military sergeant disguised herself as a referee at her son's Nebraska high school football game — adding a little twist on the always heartwarming surprise military family reunion —and the ploy almost worked too well.

Sgt. Javelle Crowder had just returned to Nebraska from after her third tour in Afghanistan, this one being 10 months. 

When an announcer welcomed Crowder home, her son Jovan, a senior linebacker for Bellevue West High School, scanned the crowd for his mother not realizing she was a few feet away.

Crowder, dressed in a black-and-white stripped referee shirt, removed her black baseball cap before  Jovan recognized his mom and embraced her immediately, lifting her up in the air.

"I can't believe you didn't recognize me!" she teased.

"I didn't," he said, smiling.

"Give me another hug! I love you, baby."

"I love you, too, Mom!"

The heartfelt embraces thrilled the crowd. 

"We are a military community, so it was very well-received," was how Kevin Broderick, the assistant principal and activities director, described the moment they hugged.

Broderick, who helped organize the surprise, got a phone call from Crowder’s brother saying that he would love to take her to the football game.

"I got together with my principal and figured this would be a unique experience," Broderick said.

Indeed it was.