Newswise — Like many other children around the country, Marissa DeLeo of Greenville, N.C., was upset when her father left for Iraq in August 2005.
"She was kind of bummed," said sister Erin DeLeo, especially knowing he wouldn't be there to watch her get her diploma from the University of North Carolina Wilmington the next spring.
"All of us are daddy's little girls, and she's the youngest girl," Erin said. "I know it was the big deal for her, and for my dad. It didn't help that we played the guilt trip on him."
But, the DeLeo family has a way of making extraordinary things happen. On Friday, May 12, Dr. William DeLeo did see his youngest daughter receive her diploma in her departmental ceremony with the help of the Department of Defense, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and UNCW.
A Greenville area residential developer and former information technology instructor at East Carolina University, Dr. DeLeo volunteered with the Army Corps of Engineers to help Iraqis rebuild their infrastructure, from hospitals and post offices to waste water treatment plants. He is stationed at Camp Anaconda, 40 miles north of Baghdad, and expects to return home in August.
In mid-April, Erin and her mother, Collette, got the idea of bringing father and daughter together for this special occasion.
Erin recalled her own graduation from UNCW in 2002.
"It meant so much to him to see me graduate that he missed his own graduation ceremony getting his doctoral degree in technology education to attend my graduation instead. When I asked the head of my department if he could mention something, I had no idea they took it upon themselves to get his diploma from NC State, and present it to him, and gown him in his robe at my departmental ceremony. It was such a surprise and emotional one at that. I don't think there was a dry eye in the place," Erin said.
She wanted to do something special like that for her sister, who was graduating May 13 summa cum laude in therapeutic recreation.
Erin talked to Professor Terry Kinney, chair of UNCW's Department of Health and Applied Human Sciences, who got the ball rolling by contacting the technology expert in the campus' Center for Teaching Excellence, who contacted the university's webmaster, who called the telecommunications department.
One call and e-mail led to another and in less than a week's time, a live video stream was set up between Camp Anaconda in Iraq and Wagoner Hall on the campus of UNC Wilmington. And despite the eight-hour time difference, Dr. DeLeo watched his daughter receive her diploma in her departmental ceremony.
"I saw everything, right up to the end. We didn't miss a picture. It was perfect," Dr. DeLeo said after the ceremony when the entire family was gathered in the School of Education teleconference room, where the university had established two-way communications between UNCW and Iraq.
"Wish you were here," Marissa told her father through her tears.
"Well, this is the next best thing," he replied.
Marissa said she began her morning thinking how disappointed she was that her father, and her grandparents from New Orleans, wouldn't be at the ceremony. Turns out they all were. Thomas and Rita Robichaux of Raceland, La., also surprised Marissa by catching a last-minute flight to Wilmington.
"I had no idea. I can't believe no one slipped up and told me," Marissa said. "No one here knows how much this means to me."
Dr. DeLeo told Marissa he had a photo of her enlarged and posted at the camp, showing off her achievement. He also has it posted on his Web site http://www.buffiniraq.blogspot.com.
"You really made me proud," he said Friday night. "Everyone here couldn't get over how good you look. They kept saying 'and she's smart, too!' Everyone here has adopted you. I can tell everyone at the school feels the same way."
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