Video teleconferences link deployed Soldiers to high school graduations

Courtesy Photo | Students from Copperas Cove High School in central Texas watch 4th Infantry Division Soldiers, stationed in Iraq, on a big screen monitor during their high school graduation. Deployed Soldiers were able to view their children's high school graduation via video teleconference. In addition to viewing the graduations, Soldiers were able to spend personal time talking with their graduating children.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

05.30.2006

Courtesy Story

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BAGHDAD --Thousands of miles of separation were erased this past weekend as Soldiers deployed with Fort Hood's 4th Infantry Division watched their children graduate from high school.

Deployed parents, beaming with pride over the accomplishments of their children, watched the graduations via video teleconference from three locations in Iraq. The graduates were also able to see their Soldiers on two large jumbo screens via video teleconference link in the Bell County Expo Center.

Evette Sillvelio graduated from Copperas Cove High School Friday night May 26. Evette was astonished when two of her cousins, Pfc. Elizabeth Lamsem and Pfc. Kodaro Yandell currently deployed in support of Iraqi Freedom, watched her walk the stage via satellite from Iraq.

"It was good, I was surprised," said Sillvelio. "I didn't know they were going to do that."

Danielle Burns, another graduate from Copperas Cove, also had a Soldier watching her as she walked the stage. Burns" father, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jeffery Burns, stood at the position of attention when his daughters name was called, and remained at attention as she walked the stage.

"It was cool that he could watch me because I'm his first child," said Danielle Burns. "Yeah, I was happy, but I wish he could have been here."

Maj. Gen. James Thurman, the commander of the 4th Inf. Div., said he was pleased his Soldiers had the opportunity to take part in this very important day in their children's lives.

Reflecting on his own children's" graduations from high school, Thurman said he remembers fondly the excitement that seemed to bubble in the auditorium and the sense of tremendous pride that seemed to radiate from the parents around him.

"This is a moment in life that cannot be replaced," he said. "I think it shows our Soldiers that we care for their welfare and know they sacrifice a lot when they are deployed."

A total of five deployed Soldiers watched their Central Texas relatives receive their high school diplomas on the first of three nights of video teleconferences.

• Date Taken: 05.30.2006
• Date Posted: 05.30.2006 09:59
• Story ID: 6564
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ