This week saw two heartbreaking videos with the same theme: Disabled or sick dogs greeting their returning military owners with sudden bursts of wiggly happiness. We’re going to show you both.

Kermie

The first video is ruthless. A dog named Kermie, cancer-stricken and dying, held on just long enough to greet her returning Dad, a sailor who was stationed overseas for eight months.

According to the New York Daily News, a month after Navy Hospital Corpsman Eric Ralston was deployed to Guam, his wife received horrible news — Kermie had oral cancer and had just three months to live.

“We were devastated to say the least,” Jennifer Ralston posted on YouTube. “Kermie was our first child, and we did not think Eric would ever get to see her again.”

Kermie grew sick and weak, but she hung on, long enough to have this ridiculously tender moment with her dad:

“His return was some sort of magic pill for her. She began eating and drinking again, without struggle!” Jennifer said. “Watching the homecoming video, you cannot even see the struggles of the previous months.”

Months later, however, Kermie’s health went downhill again, and his family was forced to say goodbye, right after her 12th birthday.

Emma

The second features a 1-year-old Pit Bull mix called Emma, who suffers from a bone-wasting disease that has severely impacted her movements, along with a neurological disorder similar to cerebral palsy, according to the Daily Mail. She’s owned by Melissa Swanson and her husband, an airman who recently served a six months in Afghanistan.

The couple are long-term foster parents for SNARR — Special Needs Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation. Though the video is hard to watch, understand that Emma is receiving excellent care. The Swansons have been looking for a wheelchair that suits Emma; thus far, Emma has rejected several. Emma has her own Facebook page, which chronicles her life (including her struggle to find that damn wheelchair), and you can make donations to her care by visiting SNARR.

Here’s Emma in one of those chairs:\

And here’s Emma greeting her returning poppa:

Melissa said, “When I come in the door, she normally sits at the end of the hallway and waits for me to pick her up. This time, when her daddy came in, she went to him! Mikey (the tan dog) was so happy he cried! Gotta love homecomings!”

You can read more about Emma and see more photos of her in a previous post here.

Via the Daily Mail and the New York Daily News; photo via Emma’s Facebook page