MASON, OH (WCMH) — An Ohio soldier returned home Thursday, and gave his little brother the ‘best day of his life.’

Jackson Charpentier told WLWT he had no idea his brother would be walking through the halls of Mason High School.

Charpentier was sitting with his computer at lunch when he heard some military-related announcements. Then, he saw his brother, who hadn’t been home in three years.

“It was exciting. I haven’t seen him move like that in years,” Peyton McKenzie said.

“It was more of a … am I hallucinating? And then it was more of a gotta go run up and hug him,” Charpentier said.

He spent three years at basic training, target school and away in Tuscon. The two try to talk as often as possible.

“When I get the chance, we hang out a lot. We hang out all the time. Usually, he likes to talk about video games, so I try to stay up to date on what he likes,” said McKenzie, who will soon be deployed to Iraq.

After he gets back from Iraq, McKenzie plans on continuing his education at University of Cincinnati and becoming a teacher at his alma mater, Mason High School.