Aaron Jones will never forget the day his mom, Vurgess, left for her deployment to a military base in Kuwait in 2003.

The Minnesota Vikings star running back was a young child. Growing up in a military family, he'd seen his parents, both Army sergeants, come and go before, but never this far.

“It was tough,” Jones tells PEOPLE. “We didn’t have the technology we have today — no Skype or Zoom. It was just letters, and I remember that feeling of uncertainty. We had to trust that she’d come back.”

Fast forward to early April, and Jones found himself standing at the same Camp Arifjan in Kuwait as part of a USO tour with the NFL. Jones pulled out his phone and FaceTimed his mother, marking what he describes as a “full circle” moment.

“I told her, ‘I’m here — this is where you were,’” Jones says. “For me to be here — to see what she saw — it’s everything.”

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Jones’ trip to different bases in Kuwait was part of the NFL’s Salute to Service initiative, and he was joined overseas by Arizona Cardinals tight end Elijah Higgins. For Jones, the trip was an opportunity to show his appreciation for service members, and to connect with his childhood.

The military upbringing meant constant change. Jones moved around a lot, living on bases in Germany and Texas. But the upheaval taught him to adapt quickly — a quality that has served him well in his football career, which began with the Vikings’ heated rivals, the Green Bay Packers.

“It prepared me for life,” he says. “You don’t realize it at the time, but moving around so much, I had to constantly re-establish myself. That’s something I carry with me today.”

Jones’ parents served a combined 56 years in the military (his father, Alvin Sr., passed away in 2021). While he credits his upbringing with forging his character, he never wanted to join the military himself, saying, “I faced those hardships with my parents; I see what it’s like to be away from your family.”

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But many people he grew up with in El Paso, Texas, where he spent a large portion of his childhood at Fort Bliss, joined the military. During his trip, Jones reconnected with many of them.

He came away impressed. He took the army’s physical training test, and it was no joke. He played flag football with the service members and discovered some "hidden gems," he says.

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He played Madden with the soldiers, and despite his NFL pedigree, he says, “I got my butt whooped.”

All the while, Jones’ appreciation grew — both for the sacrifices of the soldiers and for the chance to give back.

“It was life-changing for me,” he says. “It took me back to relive my experience and made me thankful for the journey of life.”

Read the original article on People