It's almost like being there

The new video conferencing from Freedom Calls allows service members overseas to "be present [in voice and image, at least] at birthday parties, anniversaries, and births," Harlow says.

"It's more participatory than any other kind of communication, and that's what it's all about," he adds. "I think this will have profound implications for what it means to be deployed in wartime."

Staff Sgt. Jacques Rodriguez, who is currently on duty in Iraq, agrees, saying that the value of these technologies to soldiers in war zones is immeasurable.

People gain most of the emotional impact of communication by interpreting facial and vocal expression, far more than they rely on actual words that are said, explains Dr. Sparks.

"By putting people in touch with the actual faces of our loved ones, we experience a much deeper sense of emotional connection with them, because we understand in a way that we simply cannot if we don't see them, what exactly it is they are feeling. We have a much better understanding of their emotional state."

Since he has been helping with Freedom Calls in Iraq, Maj. Richard Durost has seen firsthand the value of the new types of communications and how they improve the troops' morale.

"I've been able to watch every one of these graduations," he says. "I've been here to watch fathers seeing their new babies for the first time.

"The real reward in working on this and getting this place set up," he adds, "is being able to watch these soldiers connect with their families. It's just been really incredible."

One time, Major Durost personally experienced the joys of one-to-one communication. He had set up a video conference for another soldier and at the end, the man walked over and said that the wife of the unit's colonel wanted to talk to him about the family support group.

As he looked at the video screen, "the next thing I saw was my wife," he relates. "Talk about a morale booster. I was floating around for the next couple days."

However, there is a potential downside to all this new technology, warns Sparks.

He points out that the possibility of receiving daily e-mail from soldiers overseas builds the expectation that it will come, and if it does not, families become worried about the safety of their loved ones.

This can increase anxiety for families who, in previous wars, would have patiently waited weeks for a letter, and learned not to worry until it came.

"With the advantage of closer contact there also comes the reality of the fact that family members are probably hearing many more details about what is actually going on than families did in World War I or World War II, and they're hearing it on a daily basis," Sparks says.

Families may not really want to know the gory details of battle, and this may also increase stress for them.

Despite these potential drawbacks, families and armed services personnel have an overwhelmingly positive response to technology that allows them closer and more personal contact.

Being able to see and talk with one another gave Soto and her family peace of mind. "After this graduation, after talking to my family for about two hours, [I understand that] they have changed a lot," Soto says. "I mean, when I call home [now], they're not sad, they don't sound upset. They don't sound that worried either, because they have seen me, they have seen how I am....

"I think it made a big difference - and for me, too. I saw that they were doing good and that they were happy, so it made me be able to continue my mission and not worry so much about how they are doing and how it is affecting them. It does make a big difference on both sides."

Books for Baghdad collects books of all genres, and for all ages, to send to members of the US armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The goal of the project is to help alleviate boredom and homesickness by supplying books that will entertain and educate the troops; and to provide soldiers with books that they can give away as presents to youth as part of their peacekeeping efforts.

For more information, contact Books for Baghdad, James V. Brown Library, 19 E. Fourth St., Williamsport, PA 17701; (570) 326-0536. Or see http://theomnibus.org/books.

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