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Internet helps connect family with soldier
Photo by James Nix
Concord resident Leslie Cannon talks on the phone with her brother Will, who is currently stationed in Iraq.
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Published: November 10, 2009
CONCORD - A smile runs across Leslie Cannon's face as her brother's face appears on her laptop screen.
"Hey Will," she exclaims.
Will Cannon was deployed to Iraq with the Army reserves in May. Using the Internet program Skype,
Will can talk and see his family from over 7,000 miles away.
"You see somebody and you know they're safe, you see them smile. It's a lot more intimate than a telephone call," she said.
Another area veteran, Dr. Hector Henry, a colonel in the Army Medical Reserve, recently returned from a tour in Iraq. As a Concord city council member, he participated in meetings through Skype, even though it would be in the middle of the night where he was stationed.
It is an eight hour difference between North Carolina and Will's location in Iraq. That can make it difficult to coordinate times to connect, Leslie said.
She talks with him at least once a week. Will is able to speak to his wife Marsha nearly every day.
"It gives me peace of mind to give them peace of mind," Will said.
Will added that seeing his family's faces helps him to stay motivated while in Iraq.
Leslie said there were tears in her eyes when she first saw Will's face on the screen.
"When you first call, you really don't know what to say, you're at a loss, but then you get used to it and it's like any other phone call," she said. "I love to hear about the weather over there."
In the past, a soldier deployed oversees will miss years of his family's lives, Will said. Video conferencing through Skype is a small bridge to that gap.
"The guys get to talk to their wives, watch their babies grow up. It's a major morale booster," he said.
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