thedrifter
11-24-05, 07:23 AM
An early Thanksgiving for Marine families
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
OCEANSIDE ---- Claire Law paced a hallway, complained of butterflies in her stomach and said she felt like she was waiting for a blind date to arrive.
In reality, all Law was waiting for at an Oceanside office Wednesday morning was the chance to see her and talk to her husband, Marine Sgt. Jordan Law.
The young couple were reuniting face-to-face for the first time since he was shipped to Iraq in September, and since Claire learned in October that she was pregnant with their first child.
"How are you doing?" Claire asked when she saw her husband, who in actuality was more than 7,640 miles away in Al Asad, Iraq.
The Laws, who live in Pacific Beach, were among more than a dozen Marine Corps families who got the chance to see and talk to one another via a satellite hookup arranged by the group Operation America Cares, a nonprofit organization created in 2004 to help support the emotional needs of troops and their families.
For San Clemente's Brenda Wells and her three children, 9-year-old Tristan, 7-year-old Alyx and 5-year-old Judson, seeing and talking with helicopter pilot Maj. Aaron Wells was an early Thanksgiving blessing.
"Hi Daddy," the kids shouted as they piled into a conference room at First Command Financial Service, which hosted the Marine families and helped provide the bandwidth necessary to make the video hookup work.
"You look good," Brenda told her husband.
The Wells, like each family, got to spend 30 minutes talking with their loved ones in Iraq.
Aaron Wells said seeing his family was a touching experience. He reported that he and his unit were all well.
"We're completing our job over here and I hope everyone understands the job is important," Wells said.
As he spoke, it was a little after 8 p.m. in Iraq and Wells said he would be taking part in a nighttime operation shortly after seeing his wife and kids.
"After getting some sleep, we'll get up and get together and have some turkey," Wells said of today's activities for him and his fellow Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station troops at Al Asad, the second-largest air base in northern Iraq, about 140 miles west of Baghdad and 75 miles northwest of Fallujah.
Wells is on his first deployment to Iraq, arriving in the country in July. Brenda Wells got word of the video conferencing opportunity last week and immediately asked for a slot.
"It was better than great," Brenda said after her visit, which except for a few minutes of time shared with a reporter and photographer was conducted in private behind a closed door. "It's such a long time for the kids for him to be away and I'm so glad we all got to see him."
Ten-year-old Tristan said he "really liked" getting to see his dad and telling him about a trip to Knotts Berry Farm the family took on Tuesday.
Operation America Cares was co-founded by Toni Hanson, whose husband, Gunnery Sgt. Michael Hanson, helped arrange the video conferences and want to sponsor more in North County.
The Hansons are trying to arrange for additional teleconferencing sites at U.S. bases in Iraq and are working to raise the money to buy the required hardware.
Both were on hand Wednesday, greeting families as they arrived and providing them with snacks, soft drinks and any other help they needed.
An Internet technology specialist for the Corps, Sgt. Hanson said he knows from his own recent deployment to Iraq how special it can be for overseas troops to see and talk to their family.
"When you're there you do get lonely," Hanson said. "There's a lot of dead time and something like this can really, really improve your spirits."
Retired Marine Maj. Doyel Price Jr., a member of the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce Armed Services Committee, heard of the Hansons' need for the bandwidth to make the video conferences happen. Price said he immediately offered his First Command's technological services.
One of the first wives to get a chance to see her husband was Rebekah Murphy, who was brought to the hookup site by a friend who arranged her time slot. But Rebekah, who is eight months pregnant with twins, had no idea she would be seeing her husband, Cpl. Josh Murphy.
"She came around the corner, saw him on the screen and immediately began crying," Price said.
As she paced the hallway and prepared for her visit, Claire Law said her husband is due back in mid-April.
"I know he'll make it home all right," she said.
For more information about Operation America Cares, see the group's Web site at www.operationamericacares.org.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com
Ellie
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
OCEANSIDE ---- Claire Law paced a hallway, complained of butterflies in her stomach and said she felt like she was waiting for a blind date to arrive.
In reality, all Law was waiting for at an Oceanside office Wednesday morning was the chance to see her and talk to her husband, Marine Sgt. Jordan Law.
The young couple were reuniting face-to-face for the first time since he was shipped to Iraq in September, and since Claire learned in October that she was pregnant with their first child.
"How are you doing?" Claire asked when she saw her husband, who in actuality was more than 7,640 miles away in Al Asad, Iraq.
The Laws, who live in Pacific Beach, were among more than a dozen Marine Corps families who got the chance to see and talk to one another via a satellite hookup arranged by the group Operation America Cares, a nonprofit organization created in 2004 to help support the emotional needs of troops and their families.
For San Clemente's Brenda Wells and her three children, 9-year-old Tristan, 7-year-old Alyx and 5-year-old Judson, seeing and talking with helicopter pilot Maj. Aaron Wells was an early Thanksgiving blessing.
"Hi Daddy," the kids shouted as they piled into a conference room at First Command Financial Service, which hosted the Marine families and helped provide the bandwidth necessary to make the video hookup work.
"You look good," Brenda told her husband.
The Wells, like each family, got to spend 30 minutes talking with their loved ones in Iraq.
Aaron Wells said seeing his family was a touching experience. He reported that he and his unit were all well.
"We're completing our job over here and I hope everyone understands the job is important," Wells said.
As he spoke, it was a little after 8 p.m. in Iraq and Wells said he would be taking part in a nighttime operation shortly after seeing his wife and kids.
"After getting some sleep, we'll get up and get together and have some turkey," Wells said of today's activities for him and his fellow Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station troops at Al Asad, the second-largest air base in northern Iraq, about 140 miles west of Baghdad and 75 miles northwest of Fallujah.
Wells is on his first deployment to Iraq, arriving in the country in July. Brenda Wells got word of the video conferencing opportunity last week and immediately asked for a slot.
"It was better than great," Brenda said after her visit, which except for a few minutes of time shared with a reporter and photographer was conducted in private behind a closed door. "It's such a long time for the kids for him to be away and I'm so glad we all got to see him."
Ten-year-old Tristan said he "really liked" getting to see his dad and telling him about a trip to Knotts Berry Farm the family took on Tuesday.
Operation America Cares was co-founded by Toni Hanson, whose husband, Gunnery Sgt. Michael Hanson, helped arrange the video conferences and want to sponsor more in North County.
The Hansons are trying to arrange for additional teleconferencing sites at U.S. bases in Iraq and are working to raise the money to buy the required hardware.
Both were on hand Wednesday, greeting families as they arrived and providing them with snacks, soft drinks and any other help they needed.
An Internet technology specialist for the Corps, Sgt. Hanson said he knows from his own recent deployment to Iraq how special it can be for overseas troops to see and talk to their family.
"When you're there you do get lonely," Hanson said. "There's a lot of dead time and something like this can really, really improve your spirits."
Retired Marine Maj. Doyel Price Jr., a member of the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce Armed Services Committee, heard of the Hansons' need for the bandwidth to make the video conferences happen. Price said he immediately offered his First Command's technological services.
One of the first wives to get a chance to see her husband was Rebekah Murphy, who was brought to the hookup site by a friend who arranged her time slot. But Rebekah, who is eight months pregnant with twins, had no idea she would be seeing her husband, Cpl. Josh Murphy.
"She came around the corner, saw him on the screen and immediately began crying," Price said.
As she paced the hallway and prepared for her visit, Claire Law said her husband is due back in mid-April.
"I know he'll make it home all right," she said.
For more information about Operation America Cares, see the group's Web site at www.operationamericacares.org.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com
Ellie