Try not to cry: Ellen reunites San Antonio military man with superfan girlfriend

SAN ANTONIO – A superfan for "The Ellen Show" got one of the surprises of her life when she was reunited with her military boyfriend, who is from San Antonio.

Earlier this week, Ellen invited Maura Gonsalves onto the set to talk about her Navy boyfriend Noah Copeland, who has been deployed for more than a year. 

Copeland is a 2010 Brandies High School graduate. Copeland was a star football player for the Broncos and went on to play football at the Naval Academy. 

The pair moved to San Diego from Massachusetts, and he was deployed months later and is stationed at Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean.

Gonsalves told Ellen she had not seen Copeland since his deployment and was not sure when he was coming home. 

Ellen said Copeland knew Gonsalves was a big fan of her show and he wanted to get his girlfriend tickets for Ellen’s birthday show.

Not only did Gonsalves get the tickets, but Copeland made a surprise visit on the show to deliver the tickets personally, bringing Gonsalves to tears. 

The couple told Ellen they were planning a trip to Puerto Rico when Copeland returned, but donated the money they had saved for their trip to the Ricky Martin Foundation for hurricane relief on the island. 

Ellen thanked the couple and gave Gonsalves a free trip to Hawaii, joking that she could not give a gift directly to Copeland, so if Gonsalves chooses “to include him, that’s your business.”

Ellen tweeted after the show aired, “This military reunion may be my all-time favorite."