Military man wins hearts by taking the daughter of fallen serviceman to daddy-daughter dance

A night that would’ve otherwise been quite heartbreaking for 5-year old Cayleigh Hinton turned out to be one of her most memorable ones, thanks to a military man named Joseph Bierbrodt.

Cayleigh participated in her very first dad-daughter dance last week – only that she was accompanied by 1st Sgt. Joseph Bierbrodt of the Illinois Army National Guard instead of her own father, who died in a military truck accident nine months ago.

“She was just twirling around and smiling,” her mother, Jillian Hinton, told TODAY. “Instead of saying, ‘Hey daddy I missed you,’ she was saying, ‘Oh daddy, did you see me, I was a princess!”’

Hinton had reached out to the Illinois National Guard to see if there was anyone who could accompany her daughter to the dance at Our Lady of Humility School on Feb. 7 near their home in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois.

Once Bierbrodt, 48, saw the email, he volunteered immediately to be Cayleigh’s escort despite not knowing the family.

Read full story here: https://www.today.com/parents/soldier-takes-daughter-fallen-serviceman-school-dance-t123120