U.S. Soldier Accidentally Dials Mother During Battle

Posted on May 6, 2008

Here’s a sobering moment that could happen only with the aid of today’s technology: Sandie and Jeff Petee of Otis, Ore., were recently given a scary dose of reality in the form of a brief message on their answering machine when Sandie’s soldier son, Stephen Phillips, accidentally dialed their number during a battle in Afghanistan.

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KPTV.com:

Stephen Phillips and other soldiers in his Army MP company were battling insurgents when his phone was pressed against his Humvee. It redialed and called his parents in the small Oregon town of Otis.

Sandie Petee, Phillips’ mother, and her husband, Jeff Petee, weren’t home at the time of the call. They returned home to find a three-minute voice mail on their answering machine.

“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,’” Petee said.

They heard shooting, swearing and shouted pleas for more ammunition on the phone call from their son.

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