Though nothing beats coming home to a hug, today's servicemen and -women have lots of ways to stay in touch.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Chelsea Radford/U.S. Navy/Department of Defense
I'm coming home! It's official as of this morning... That little house is going to look like a palace to me... Is it true some people eat three times a day, or, more? And they sit on a chair, by a table. What's the matter, can't they dig a hole in the back yard like everybody else? - Private First Class Al Puntasecca
It was 1952, and Private Puntasecca had just learned his tour of duty in the Korean War was over. As he told the folks back in Hackensack, N.J. in his letter, excerpted here from "Behind the Lines: Powerful and Revealing American and Foreign War Letters - And One Man's Search to Find Them" by Andrew Carroll, the simple comforts and routines of home seemed like paradise compared to the Army life of C rations and foxholes.
Private Puntasecca shared the news using pen and paper. One of his modern-day brothers- or sisters-in-arms might e-mail, tweet, or upload a video. Today, technology old and new gives service members and their families more ways than ever to stay in touch, even with an ocean between them. Here we look at five resources for communication with members of the military, starting with a group of volunteers with a very personal interest: their families.
