Back in January, Master Sergeant, Jacinto Bernardo, purchased his first home. Due to his financial situation, he bought a “fix-me-up” and planned to remodel it. Unfortunately, before Bernardo could even start working on it, he got called back into service.

Naturally, Bernardo didn’t want to leave his home unattended for long a period of time. That’s when he asked his good friend/fellow veteran Jeremy Epperson to keep an eye on it while he was gone.

Upon his arrival, Epperson was quite shocked by the condition of Bernardo’s home. The backyard was awful, fixtures were falling off, the flooring was old, etc. He felt that a man like Bernardo, who has over 21 years of service under his belt, deserved so much better.

To make things right, Epperson started collecting donations to help fix up Bernardo’s home. He managed to raise $20,000 in cash and found several volunteers willing to help with the labor. It only took them 10 days renovate the home.

Now, take a look at the video below to see Bernardo’s reaction to the surprise. The ending might just put tears in your eyes.