The Brown & White

The Global Union marked the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by sponsoring a university-to-battlefield videoconference with U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq.

The one-hour event, which was free and open to the public, took place on Friday in Packard Lab.

About 50 students from Lehigh, Nazareth High School and Parkland High School attended the event.

The Freedom Calls Foundation, a non-profit organization based in New York, co-sponsored the event. Its mission is "to build a communications network independent of military networks employing state-of-the-art … technology to transform the experience of soldiers on extended deployments to war zones," according to its Web site.

More than 40,000 soldiers in five different camps in Iraq are able to participate in family events such as graduations, birthdays and other milestones through videoconferencing.

Kathryn Hudacek, director of development, explained via videoconference that Freedom Calls is unique in that it is strictly for civilian purposes.

"I wish I had this kind of opportunity when I was in college," Hudacek said. "You have an advantage only your university can take advantage of. Lehigh is the flagship of this program."

The videoconference on Friday was attended by four sergeants based in Camp Taji, approximately 20 miles north of Baghdad.

Guests in attendance were able to raise their hands to ask questions, ranging from the soldiers' daily activities to their observations on the ground in Iraq.

When asked what motivated them to become soldiers, Sgt. Wells from Mississippi answered, "Every soldier has a different reason, but it boils down to loving America," Wells said. "Plus, I've got to travel to six different countries, and it's really cool."

The Sergeants described special ceremonies at the camp to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

"They think we are here for oil and a variety of other reasons, but we are here to protect ourselves," one Sergeant said, "I wish every day I can come home, but I have to stay because this is my job."

"We've done a lot to improve society here," another Sergeant said. "I can't really get you a great answer for whether things are getting better, but I can say we've accomplished to the best of our abilities because it's our job."

The conversation topics were both lighthearted and serious. At one point, a question about what the Sergeants thought about President Barack Obama was followed by a question about their guns, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

"The soldiers were pretty down to earth," TJ Berntsen, '12, said. "I thought they were very patriotic. A lot of people thanked the soldiers for their work, so I'm glad that they know how appreciative we are."

Sgt. Wells had a tip for Lehigh students.

"Don't take life for granted. Appreciate your friends and family," he said. "Also, pay attention to the details."