This is sweet..

Technology unites kin, GIs on holidays

Wendy Derkits stood in front of the camera to deliver a holiday message thousands of miles away. She wanted to tell her husband at war that she loved him and wish him a Merry Christmas, but with the camera running and people watching, her words were replaced by tears.

Hours later, she sat in her living room trying to figure out how to tell her Marine husband what she wanted him to hear.

So she set up her own video camera and just started to talk, telling him everything a wife tells a husband: about their children, the family, their Christmas plans. She showed him the house, the tree and the decorations.

"It was an hour of nothingness. But it was me, normal. Me, everyday. He doesn't need to remember me sad and crying. That's not what he needs. He needs regular me," said Derkits, 24, of Oceanside.

For some Marines and soldiers, this is their first Christmas away from family. For others, it is a second, third or fourth missed holiday season — a reality of a country at war.

But unlike wars past, nearly every deployed military personnel will have an opportunity to connect with loved ones: From sending Christmas wishes in a video message to participating in a two-way videoconference or using a Web cam.

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