Holiday Greetings From Home
This holiday season, approximately 300,000 Americans are on active military duty overseas and won't be home for Christmas.
To help them, more than 600 Circuit City stores, Sony and CBS will again give relatives and friends an opportunity to send videotaped holiday greetings. This effort is called "Message From America".
The person receiving the message can be away from home in the U.S. or on duty overseas. Their relatives and any members of the public are invited to visit a Circuit City store and record a holiday greeting for free.
Immediate family members can make a 5-minute recording that will be put on a DVD and given to them to mail. The 30-second messages of others will be compiled and sent to USOs and the American Forces Radio and Television Service, a military network, said John Farugia. He is a regional vice president for the Circuit City stores in the New York metropolitan area.
Lieutenant J-G April Isley of the U.S. Coast Guard visited The Early Show to give a message to her brother, Chad Isley. He is a 24-year-old Army sergeant in South Korea for a little more than a year. A military policeman, he's also with the airborne division of the Army, his sister says. His home base is Fort Bragg, S.C., near Fayettville.
The Isley's are originally from Fairfield, Mont. Sgt. Isley learned that his wife was pregnant right before he was shipped out, said his sister. He barely had enough time to move her back to Montana to be with relatives before he started his new assignment. His wife gave birth to a baby girl named Isabelle in August. Sgt. Isley was able to come back for a week to see his daughter born and then returned to Korea. The plan was to have the birth induced, but his wife went into labor. Isley said that her brother's five-year commitment to the Army was up this frall, but it's been extended indefinitely because of the possibility of war.
Michael Montijo, who is also with Circuit City, has a sibling who will be far away from home this holiday, as well. His fraternal twin brother is in the Navy and has been stationed in Italy for two years. They were born on Long Island in New York, but they grew up in southern California. His brother's wife and children are with him in Italy.
"I miss him quite bit," said Montijo. "We are not able to talk to him as much as we used to." They haven't talked in six months. Their birthday was in August, but they were only able to wish each other a Happy Birthday by e-mail. Montijo said that he wants his brother to know how much he respects what he's doing and how much he appreciates his 18 years of service in the Navy.