Couple requests prepaid calling cards — for soldiers in Iraq
| 11/7/2004, 3:28 p.m. PT The Associated Press |
PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) — Local newlyweds made an unusual wedding-gift request: They wanted prepaid international telephone calling cards.
Tony Clayton and Jeana Johnson-Clayton are sending the nearly 60 cards they received to U.S. military personnel in Iraq, so the troops can call home during the holidays.
The bride's son, Chris Johnson, is serving in the Marine Corps and will be deployed early next year, she said.
"We thought about our friends who have sons who are serving or have served in Iraq, and know how important phone calls are — not only to the loved one here but equally as important to the soldier calling home," Johnson-Clayton said.
So the couple made their unusual request to those attending their mid-October wedding at John Wayne Marina in nearby Sequim.
"The response was huge," Johnson-Clayton said. "We received close to 60 phone cards totaling over more than 350 hours. And we are still receiving them."
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On the Internet:
For information about donating to service members, see the Veteran of Foreign Wars site www.operationuplink.org/
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Information from: Peninsula Daily News, http://www.peninsuladailynews.com