Parents Listen In Stunned Horror To Phoned In Battle From Afghanistan

Just one day after Canada lost its 83rd soldier to the war in Afghanistan comes a remarkable story that shows how technology is bringing that battle closer to home than ever before.

Stephen Phillips is a U.S. Army MP fighting in the war torn country. He gave his family an unexpected glimpse of his experiences this week, when he was caught in the middle of a vicious firefight with the Taliban.

The 22-year-old soldier was carrying a cell phone when the skirmish began and it pressed against the Humvee he and his colleagues were travelling in. The handset hit ‘last number dialed’ – and connected to his parent’s home in the small town of Otis, Oregon. They weren’t home but arrived later to find a voicemail message that was as chilling as anything they’d ever heard.

Sounds of gunfire are heard on the tape, followed by shouts of “more ammo! more ammo!” At one point an unidentified voice is heard screaming “incoming! RPG! (Rocket propelled grenade.)”

Phillips’ parents were understandably disturbed as they sat in stunned silence listening to the exchange half a world away. “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 Peete recalls.

“It’s something a parent really doesn’t want to hear,” adds dad Jeff Peete. “It’s a heck of a message to get from your son in Afghanistan.”

The call eventually cut off and the frantic parents spent the next few hours desperately trying to reach their son on the front lines. After several nerve wracking attempts, they eventually got through, much to their relief. “I finally got a hold of him,” the still shaken mom relates. “He was embarrassed, he said, ‘Don’t let Grandma hear it.'”

It was an outcome many families don’t get – including the relatives of Cpl. Michael Starker. He’s the latest Canadian to die in the war, after being ambushed during a foot patrol in the Pashmul District on Tuesday. The Calgary paramedic was just 36 years old.

File photo