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I knew the See Your Soldier event was going to be an emotionally charged shoot as we were filming families and friends of soldiers stationed in Iraq, many of whom hadn’t seen their loved ones for many months. The NCSA had arranged one particular teleconference that all of the media would film at the same time
I was surprised at what a large turnout there was for the filming – there were three professional camera people and another four or five print reporters there in addition to myself. The number of media people in the relatively small teleconference room made everything a little chaotic, but you could still clearly see how much the teleconference meant to the family members and the soldier we filmed. After this official media filming was over and the family left the teleconference room, I stayed behind to do some follow-up interviews with some of the family members. I then heard that the family that was now in the teleconference room was actually the sister and 4-year-old son of a mother and father who were BOTH serving in Iraq. I had never even considered a situation like in which a child’s parents could both be serving and in harm’s way. I was able to get a short interview with them as well (although their son, not surprisingly, was very tired and distracted by the time I was able to interview them).
I was surprised to learn that the soldiers serving at the two camps in Iraq that were participating in the See Your Soldier program were actually wired and that soldiers could have Internet connections in their rooms (paid for by their families back home). So many soldiers would text message or e-mail their families back here regularly. It gives you a new perspective on the whole “letters from the front lines” idea from previous wars. What struck me the most about the event was how natural the interactions seemed between the soldiers and their families. A number of the participants mentioned how, thanks to the big screen and quick video connection, it was like being in the same room with their soldier. What also struck me was how everyone involved was interested in coming back to participate in the program the next time they held one – but also hoping that they wouldn’t need to.
Segment duration: 07:26
Producer: Steve Drake
This segment is filed in these categories: Military
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