Ten-year-old Keyana White, left, and her sister Alyzia, 12, make a Christmas message for their dad Army Staff Sgt. William White, who is in Iraq. (Suzanne Cronn-Herald/Review)
Posted on 11/16/2007 4:24:29 PM PST by SandRat
FORT HUACHUCA — For Alyzia and Keyana White, the upcoming holidays will be sad.
Their father, Army Staff Sgt. William White, is in Iraq.
The two girls have only heard their dad’s voice once since he left in August.
But on Thursday, the two cut a disc to be sent to their air traffic controller dad, and he will not only be able to hear them but see them, too.
The Southern Arizona Chapter of American Red Cross project, supported by Raytheon and radio station 104.1 The Truth, recorded family messages as part of Operation Message.
Amanda Thomas, spokeswoman for the Red Cross chapter, said 10 families had signed up to the recordings at the studio of the Fort Huachuca Public Affairs Office. DVDs also were done in Tucson on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The families receive the DVDs for them to mail to their deployed loved one, Thomas said.
The White children were a little nervous as they held microphones to wish their dad happy holidays.
A quiet Keyana, 10, who attends sixth-grade at Smith Middle School on the post, held her head down as she spoke about missing him.
However, 12-year-old, Alyzia, a seventh-grader at Imagine School, was a little more forceful in her delivery.
Their mother, Kari White, who is divorced from the soldier, said she will send the DVD to her former husband’s wife.
She will mail it in a holiday package.
“It’s going to be a surprise when he opens it (the package),” she said. “I wanted him to see and hear the girls.”
While sending a DVD to their dad is a good thing, Alyzia and Keyana said they would rather see him in person, something that may happen sometime next year when he returns on a mid-deployment break.
herald/Review senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or bill.hess@svherald.com.
Ten-year-old Keyana White, left, and her sister Alyzia, 12, make a Christmas message for their dad Army Staff Sgt. William White, who is in Iraq. (Suzanne Cronn-Herald/Review)
...thanks to SSGT White and his family for their service to our country.
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