Deployed father coaches wife, delivers baby from Afghanistan

  • Published
  • By Sgt. 1st Class Pete Mayes
  • 101st Sustainment Brigade PAO
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  Deployed fathers can take an active role in the birth of their child, even if they are stationed in a combat zone by using computer video teleconferencing technology like Skype. 

Capt. Joseph Palermo, who recently coached his wife Katherine through the birthing process, both welcomed their daughter, Anna Grace, into the world despite the fact they were separated by several continents.

"I didn't think it would work out," said Captain Palermo, a battalion chaplain for the 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade. "It sounded too good to be true; It was a pretty awe-inspiring experience."

Anna Grace was born Jan. 12, at Joint Base Elmenorf-Richardson's 673d Medical Group Hospital. She is the couple's first child.

Captain Palermo, a 17-year military veteran, said he prides himself on his speaking abilities. The birth of his daughter, however, left him speechless, he said.

"I'm a professionally trained speaker, practiced in conveying complex ideas through sermons, but I found myself at a great loss for words at the moment of Anna's birth, even though I was not there," he said. "That's a rare occasion for me, and that says a lot."

Captain Palermo said they had heard there was a possibility that Skype services were available through the hospital. The hospital offers the service as an option for deployed servicemembers stationed who cannot physically be there for their children's birth due to deployment.

"I didn't know all the ins and outs of it," he said. "I didn't think it would work out, or that there would be any rooms available. It turned out there was one room where they have a wireless network."

The battalion senior chaplain's wife was instrumental in getting everything set up, Captain Palermo said.