Marine dad in Iraq hears baby's first cry using videoconference

Andrea Denham holds up her newborn, Hailey, for her husband, Marine Sgt. Zachary Denham, (who is based in Fallujah, Iraq) to see, via a videoconference set up at the Medical Center of Aurora.

On such a somber day of remembrance, Marine Sgt. Zachary Denham, of Aurora, will recall Sept. 11, 2006, as the day he got to see his newborn daughter cradled in his wife's arms - from 10,000 miles away.

Wrapped in a soft pink blanket, Hailey Elizabeth Denham, and her mother, Andrea Denham, were patched through via video conferencing from the Medical Center of Aurora to the Marine stationed in Fallujah, Iraq.

"Awwww. She's a beauty," said Zachary as he watched his day-old daughter drift in and out of sleep. "We did pretty good, huh, honey?"

His wife's eyes then filled with tears.

"I love you, honey," she said. "I miss you soooo much."

Thanks to the Freedom Calls Foundation, a nonprofit group that provides military families with free telephone service and e-mail as well as videoconferencing, Zachary was also able to hear his daughter's first cry over the phone when she was born Sunday at 6:48 p.m.

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