Southie

Parents hear Afghan gun battle on voice mail
Soldier fighting insurgents accidentally causes phone to dial home; he's OK

Scary voicemail from Afghan gunbattle
May 6: Contessa Brewer reports on the Oregon couple's fear upon receiving an accidental voice mail message from their son in the midst of a firefight in Afghanistan.

updated 9:22 p.m. ET, Tues., May. 6, 2008
OTIS, Ore. - An Oregon couple checking their voice mail found a frightening three-minute recording of their son caught in a battle in Afghanistan.

Stephen Phillips, 22, and other soldiers in his Army MP company were battling insurgents when his phone was pressed against his Humvee. It redialed and called his parents in the small Oregon town of Otis.

Most of the sounds were gunfire, but shouts could be heard, including, "More ammo! More ammo!"

"At the end, you could hear a guy saying 'Incoming! RPG!' And then it cut off," John Petee, Phillips' brother, told KPTV-TV in Portland.

Phillips' mother, Sandie Petee, and her husband, Jeff Petee, were not at home at the time of the call. When they checked their voice mail, they heard the shooting.

"His friend died a year ago in Iraq and I'm thinking, 'Oh my God, this may be the last time I hear my son's voice on the phone,'" Sandie Petee said.

Nobody was wounded or killed in his son's unit during the firefight, Jeff Petee said. He said "It's something a parent really doesn't want to hear. It's a heck of a message to get from your son in Afghanistan."

As soon as the voice mail stopped playing, the Petees began trying to reach their son in Afghanistan.

"I finally got a hold of him," Sandie Petee said. "He was embarrassed, he said, 'Don't let Grandma hear it.'"

Her son is serving with the Army 546th MP Company 3rd Platoon and has been in Afghanistan about a year, his father said. Phillips could return to Fort Stewart in Georgia next week, his family said.

OK, so that would scare the sh*t out of me if I had a voice message like that!

__________________
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” - Jimi Hendrix
Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin

Mobbme

Oh yeah, I can just imagine. I've had a few friends dial me accidentily, but it was nothing like this

Gotz to learn to lock your phones!

gunnut

On a lighter note...it's a great Verizon commercial material.

"Can you hear me now?"

What carrier does he have? He dialed Oregon all the way from Afghanistan!

__________________
"Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

Sakebomb

I know there are international cellphones available for soldiers in Kuwait if you pay through the teeth, didnt know about Afghan though.

gunnut

But there has to be coverage to begin with, unless he has a satellite phone, which is quite expensive.