43
Birthday Surprise: Girl receives special greeting from father serving in Afghanistan
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
Fourth-grader Justin Cool holds a copy of a book called Basher Five-two that students in his class read. Justin wanted to know if Reservist Geoff Clark, on the screen, had read the true story of F-16 fighter pilot Scott O’Grady.
Skype
Video
A 4th grader from The Valley shares her 10th birthday with her father, an USAF Reservist deployed in Afghanistan via Skype.
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
Geoff Clark, a U.S. Air Force Reservist speaks, to his daughter Kayla Clark and wife Kim Clark, at left, Monday using Skype, a program that allows users to chat online through video. Clark also answered questions from fourth-graders at Jackson-Milton Elementary during his digital visit.
By Kristine Gill
NORTH JACKSON
Ten-year-old Kayla Clark won’t see her father for Christmas or New Year’s.
But a digital Geoff Clark was there for his daughter’s birthday Monday.
Geoff, 41, is serving in Afghanistan as an Air Force reservist for the 76th Aerial Port Squadron based in Vienna. On Monday, he talked with Kayla and her fourth-grade class at Jackson-Milton Elementary School with the use of Skype.
Skype is a free program that lets computer users either chat online or video conference.
“What’s up, squirt?” Clark asked as Kayla looked into the webcam linking her to her father thousands of miles away.
The class sang Happy Birthday to Kayla, and Clark thanked them for sending Christmas cards to the troops.
“It’s very important to see him, to hear him, to let him know we’re doing well, to see he’s doing well,” said Clark’s wife, Kim.
On Monday, students asked about the food Clark eats overseas, how many boxes of cargo he handles daily and how he can stand the heat. One student asked if there was any snow where Clark was — there wasn’t. And another asked whether the reservists got breaks to use the bathroom while loading cargo — they do.
“It felt really good that other people got to ask him questions and get to know him,” Kayla said.
Kayla and her 5-year-old sister, Courtney, Skype with their father each Monday.
“My 5-year-old still doesn’t quite understand where [Geoff] is, why he’s there,” Kim said. “She’s been asking ‘When is Daddy coming home’ since day one.”
Kayla is in Paula Willock’s fourth-grade class where students organized a drive to send goods to Kayla’s father and those he serves with. One classroom is reading a book called “Basher Five-Two” by Scott O’Grady and Michael French. It tells O’Grady’s story of the time his F-16 fighter plane was shot down over Bosnia.
On Friday, ninth-graders in Rochelle Morelli’s class at Jackson-Milton High School worked with fourth-graders to write letters to soldiers overseas. Kim said the ex- perience has helped her children to cope with their father’s absence.
“I don’t think anyone knew [Kayla’s] dad had been away for six months,” she said, adding that families in the area have been supportive.
Clark served in Baghdad in 2008 and completed two tours of duty in Turkey in 2002 and 1998. That was before the Clark family used Skype.
“It was very hard,” Kim said. “Even when he was in Baghdad and people were asking if we used Skype. This time, we’ve talked with him since the first week.”