Posted on 11/25/2005 2:37:01 PM PST by SandRat
NEW YORK CITY(Army News Service, Nov. 23, 2005) -- Holiday greetings featuring 30 deployed troops from the New York City area debuted Nov. 17 on Times Square.
About 50 family members gathered at the “Crossroads of the World” to view the greetings on the 30-by-40-ft. screen that overlooks the site where the New Year’s Eve ball drops for millions of television viewers worldwide.
Queens resident Evelyn Ponce came to see the greeting from her daughter, Spc. Jessica Alicea, who is deployed in Afghanistan and due to return at the end of December.
“We’re very proud of her,” said Ponce. “She can’t wait to come home. She said to me ‘Ma, I can’t wait to look pretty again.”
She said her daughter’s homecoming will be a relief.
“It’s scary sometimes,” Ponce said. “When people knock on the door, you try not to think of the worst.”
One of the greetings, from Col. Richard F. Trotta, an Army surgeon deployed to Afghanistan, prompted cheers from a contingent of the Trotta family that turned out for the event.
“It’s exciting,” said his father Frank Trotta of Lawrence, N.Y. “A large portion of the family is here today. We miss him quite a bit.”
The Army and Air Force Hometown News Directorate produced the segments, which will run through Jan. 1. New York City officials estimate 1.5 million people see the video billboard each day.
(Editor’s note: Sgt. 1st Class Eric Reinhardt serves with Army Public Affairs – New York.)
Holiday Greetings from and to the troops from Times Square.
Thanks for posting this, SandRat! Prayers for safety and thanksgiving for our heroes this Thanksgiving 2005!
BTTT!!!!!!
Awesome! What a wonderful thing for the troops and their families.
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