Duke Soldiers watch kids’ graduation ‘live’ from Afghanistan

Photo By Master Sgt. Ben Navratil | U.S. Army Spc. Jose Alonso Rojas, a truck driver with Company B, 201st Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Task Force Duke, talks with his step-daughter, Alicia Zizumbo, via tele-conference at Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan, May 21. Rojas had just watched his step-daughter's high school graduation ceremony, which was streamed over the internet from Fort Knox, Ky.  

KHOWST PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

05.21.2011

Story by Staff Sgt. Ben Navratil 

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division

KHOWST PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Two soldiers in eastern Afghanistan watched their children graduate high school May 21, despite being more than 7,000 miles away from the ceremony held at Fort Knox High School in Fort Knox, Ky.

A live video of the ceremony was streamed over the internet so the two fathers could watch in the early hours of the day.

The ceremony was held at 6 p.m., May 20, in Kentucky, which translates to 2:30 a.m., May 21 in Afghanistan, but the soldiers here had no problem staying up late to participate.

Myles T. Bailey, son of U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Charles Bailey, originally from Jesup, Ga., the senior enlisted Soldier in Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 3/1 Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Task Force Duke, expressed on his personal Facebook page that he wished his father couldn’t be at the ceremony.

“The fact that Fort Knox and the brigade was able to make this happen made up for not being there in person,” the elder Bailey said after taking in the ceremony from his office at FOB Gardez. “This was his moment, and I was there for it. It was a great experience; I was able to see my whole family on the stream.”

The effort to get the stream up on the web and be able to receive it in theater took the cooperation of many people, both at Fort Knox and downrange.

“Broadcasting the stream has been a great community effort,” said Mike Martin, an information technology specialist with U.S. Army Accessions Command at Fort Knox.

“Numerous organizations across post contributed equipment and individuals with the skills needed to make this happen,” he added.

Immediately after the ceremony, U.S. Army Spc. Jose Alonso Rojas, a Santa Paula, Calif., native and truck driver with Co. B, 201st BSB, 3rd BCT, 1st Inf. Div., TF Duke, was able to talk to his stepdaughter, Alicia Zizumbo, and wife Maribel, via video teleconference from the TF Duke media operations center on FOB Salerno.

He told his stepdaughter how proud he was of her, and that he’d see her soon enough.

“Everything was perfect,” said Rojas. “It was as if I was there in person.”

• Date Taken: 05.21.2011
• Date Posted: 05.21.2011 06:11
• Story ID: 70816
• Location: KHOWST PROVINCE, AF