thedrifter
05-12-08, 07:59 AM
Marines send love home via Times Square video screen
BY BARRY PADDOCK
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Monday, May 12th 2008, 4:00 AM
It was Mother's Day, wartime style.
Silent messages of love from soldiers in Iraq filled a giant video screen in Times Square Sunday, triggering tears - and some chuckles - from mothers who craned their necks skyward to see their children stationed a world away.
"There she is!" Concetta Costanzo cried out as her daughter Brenda Donohoe's image filled the well-known Panasonic screen on the side of 1 Times Square, which is also the site of the New Year's Eve ball drop.
It was Costanzo's 79th birthday and her first time in New York City since 1947.
"Mom, God graced the Earth the day you were born. He called it Mother's Day," read a sign that Donohoe, 50, held onscreen.
Then the Navy legalman first class from Jacksonville, Fla., stationed in Fallujah, Iraq, tapped her heart, pointed at the camera and mouthed the words, "I love you."
Donohoe's daughter, Jesika Hansen, 31, a restaurant manager who lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, hugged Costanzo tightly.
Then they cried.
"I wish she could be here," said Costanzo, who flew in for Mother's Day from Spring Hill, Fla.
Donohoe was followed onscreen by four Marines also stationed in Fallujah.
Adrienne Grist, 68, a retired teacher who lives on Roosevelt Island, wiped tears after she watched her daughter Maj. Lisa Webb, 41, hold a sign that promised, "I'm taking care and will see you soon."
She recalled her daughter as a little girl, who loved to do up her dolls' hair.
"To think my little hairdresser daughter is now a major in the Marines blows my mind," Grist said.
"I try not to think of any harm coming to her and I pray a lot."
A Brooklyn-born Marine with a mischievous smile knew how to make his Long Island mom laugh.
"I'm eating all my veggies every other Friday on odd number months only during dinner when the moon is full," Maj. Reginald Lewis, 41, assured his mom from afar.
Patricia Lewis, 61, who works for a military manufacturer, cheered.
Her son has four children and has been in Iraq since February - his second tour.
He grew up in Brooklyn but lives in San Diego, where he's due home at the end of the year.
Just seeing the face of her only child made Lewis' Mother's Day.
"I'm going to enjoy the day because I feel good," she said.
Ellie
BY BARRY PADDOCK
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Monday, May 12th 2008, 4:00 AM
It was Mother's Day, wartime style.
Silent messages of love from soldiers in Iraq filled a giant video screen in Times Square Sunday, triggering tears - and some chuckles - from mothers who craned their necks skyward to see their children stationed a world away.
"There she is!" Concetta Costanzo cried out as her daughter Brenda Donohoe's image filled the well-known Panasonic screen on the side of 1 Times Square, which is also the site of the New Year's Eve ball drop.
It was Costanzo's 79th birthday and her first time in New York City since 1947.
"Mom, God graced the Earth the day you were born. He called it Mother's Day," read a sign that Donohoe, 50, held onscreen.
Then the Navy legalman first class from Jacksonville, Fla., stationed in Fallujah, Iraq, tapped her heart, pointed at the camera and mouthed the words, "I love you."
Donohoe's daughter, Jesika Hansen, 31, a restaurant manager who lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, hugged Costanzo tightly.
Then they cried.
"I wish she could be here," said Costanzo, who flew in for Mother's Day from Spring Hill, Fla.
Donohoe was followed onscreen by four Marines also stationed in Fallujah.
Adrienne Grist, 68, a retired teacher who lives on Roosevelt Island, wiped tears after she watched her daughter Maj. Lisa Webb, 41, hold a sign that promised, "I'm taking care and will see you soon."
She recalled her daughter as a little girl, who loved to do up her dolls' hair.
"To think my little hairdresser daughter is now a major in the Marines blows my mind," Grist said.
"I try not to think of any harm coming to her and I pray a lot."
A Brooklyn-born Marine with a mischievous smile knew how to make his Long Island mom laugh.
"I'm eating all my veggies every other Friday on odd number months only during dinner when the moon is full," Maj. Reginald Lewis, 41, assured his mom from afar.
Patricia Lewis, 61, who works for a military manufacturer, cheered.
Her son has four children and has been in Iraq since February - his second tour.
He grew up in Brooklyn but lives in San Diego, where he's due home at the end of the year.
Just seeing the face of her only child made Lewis' Mother's Day.
"I'm going to enjoy the day because I feel good," she said.
Ellie