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15-minute videoconferences reunite
deployed soldiers and their families
During the Gulf War, there were letters and land lines. Thirteen years later, Rhonda Canteen now has a few more ways of keeping her husband up on family matters while he is overseas on duty.
Cell phone chats and e-mails handle the bulk of the couple's communication.
But a 15-minute block of video teleconferencing that is provided by the U.S. Army about once a month puts 1st Sgt. Gary Canteen as face-to-face with his wife and four kids as he could get while still 7,500 miles away in Bagram, Afghanistan.
"You talk to him on the telephone, but seeing him, it just makes a world of difference," Rhonda Canteen said yesterday after a teleconferencing session at Schofield Barracks.
Gary Canteen is in the 725th Main Support Battalion, whose members are about halfway into a one-year Afghanistan deployment.
About 10 soldiers from the battalion, which provides maintenance, supply, transportation, medical and chemical support to Schofield Barracks' 25th Infantry Division, were called up yesterday afternoon to see their loved ones via live video.
Maj. Teresa Rae, the 725th's rear detachment commander, said families rotate for video teleconferencing time.
Few turn down the opportunity. Some spend the time talking, she said, while others are so taken by the sight of their loved ones that they hardly speak at all.
"It's very emotional," Rae said. "Some don't want to leave the room."
Lawna Crossfield and her three young children sat facing the large screens -- one for an incoming feed and another for what is going out -- designated for the video teleconferencing yesterday, amazed at how close her husband and their father seemed.
"Doesn't Daddy look good?" Crossfield asked her little ones.
"It'd be better," battalion chaplain Capt. Scott Crossfield said, "if I could come through the screen and give you a hug."
Rhonda Canteen, who owns a clothing store in Pearl City, said she still remembers how irregular and unreliable communication with her husband was in 1991 when he was fighting in Desert Storm.
"I spoke with him maybe once every two weeks," she said, adding that he was on a six-month deployment in Saudi Arabia. "It was mostly communication by letter. It was difficult."
Though the video teleconferencing is not their only -- or their most frequently used -- way of keeping up with each other, it is one meaningful way for the family to connect, she said.
"He gets to see the kids," Canteen said. "We talk. It just seems to make a whole lot of difference."
The Canteens' four children -- who range in age from 4 to 16 -- all came along yesterday to see their dad. They shared the latest news in their lives, had some laughs and made sure to tell Canteen they love him.
The family discussed whether 14-year-old Shavae should get braces and if 11-year-old Stephon could keep his grades up in middle school. They kidded 16-year-old Garett about his newly obtained learner's permit, and Canteen about his desert fatigues.
"You all are doing a great job," Canteen told his family. "Time is moving a little quick but not nearly quick enough. I'm coming home soon to pinch some cheeks."
Before Canteen went back to his post, he told his wife he loved her and to be safe. "I'll call you tonight on your cell phone," he added before walking off camera.
