Military folks overseas
will get to watch local
football games

HAWAII'S Army National Guard and Army Reserve members in Iraq and Afghanistan will be treated to University of Hawaii home football games courtesy of Unity House Inc. and KFVE-TV, the station that broadcasts the games.

KFVE will provide Unity House with tapes of the games, which Unity House will pay to transfer to DVD. Sets of discs for each game will be given to local Army officials for shipment overseas.

"We are very proud and committed to supporting our brave men and women serving overseas," said Tony Rutledge, Unity House president. "Providing these DVDs is just a small token of appreciation for their sacrifice."

Deployed viewers include men and women with the Hawaii Army Reserve's 411th Engineers, in Iraq; the Hawaii Army National Guard Company C 193rd Aviation, also in Iraq, and Company B, 193rd Aviation in Afghanistan. The Guard's 29th Brigade Combat Team will be in Iraq next year.

A Unity House spokesman estimated he costs of transferring the games to DVD at around $2,000.

"It's an awfully nice thing to do for the troops, to give them something to connect with back home," said Maj. Chuck Anthony, public affairs officer for the Hawaii National Guard.

Unity House and KFVE are willing to reproduce games for other services' Guard and Reserve units, should they be activated, according to a Unity House spokesman.

Providing DVDs of other sports is under consideration, according to John Fink, KFVE's vice president and general manager.

"It's just a little piece of home that we're more than happy to provide," Fink said. "We're known as the Home Team, UH is the home team, they're our home team overseas."