Soldier Fires Off Voicemail Message

Friday, May 09, 2008

Source: Ananova

Sandie and Jeff Petee listened to three minutes of gunfire and shouting before a voice cried "Incoming! RPG" and the phone cut off.

The message had come from the phone of their son Stephen Phillips, 22, who has been fighting in Afghanistan for around a year.

It had dialled their number after being pressed against his Humvee during the clash. His parents were out shopping when their phone rang, but picked up the message when they returned.

The recording - which included swearing and cries of "more ammo" - has since been listened to more than 220,000 times on the video-sharing website YouTube.

"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, of Otis, Oregon said.

As soon as the voice mail stopped playing, the Petees began trying to reach their son, who is serving with the Army 546th MP Company 3rd Platoon.

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

Nobody was wounded or killed in his son's unit during the firefight, Jeff Petee said.

He added: "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."