Centennial Students Skype With Soldier | Video

Jody Kerzman | 2/18/2010

This year hasn`t been easy for Grant and Braydon Bushaw. Their dad was deployed to Kosovo in August and they have only seen him once since then. But every weekend, they spend time on the computer Skyping with their dad.

Today, they showed their classmates how this technology works, and brought their dad to Centennial Elementary School.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Lee Bushaw made time for a special appearance at Centennial Elementary school.

Bushaw answered questions from first and fifth graders. They asked about the weather: "It`s different than North Dakota. We had a foot and a half of snow three days ago and today we don`t have anything. It all melted," said Lee.

About the language, "Mostly Albanian and Serbian."

And about the people in Kosovo: "The people are very nice. They appreciate what we are doing," said Lee.

And these kids appreciate the chance to talk with a soldier..

"Get to talk to a soldier in person and understand it is a commitment being overseas and away from their family and they`re doing good for us overseas," said Centennial first grade teacher Beth Kocis.

This Skype session was extra special for Grant and Braydon Bushaw, Lee is their dad.

"They haven`t seen him in quite awhile so I think they thought that was pretty cool," said Grant.

But having their dad on the other side of the world hasn`t been easy on these boys, or on their dad. "I miss my family a lot," said Lee.

The boys skype with their dad every week, but it isn`t the same. "I want to hug him," said Braydon.

For now, virtual hugs via Skype will have to do, and on this day, Lee got virtual hugs from his sons and their friends. Lee and the rest of his unit should be back in North Dakota in July.

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