Jennifer Day balanced her daughter on her lap, adjusted the microphone clipped to her collar and stared nervously into the cameras.

“What are we supposed to do?” the 29-year-old Puyallup resident asked. “I’ve never done this before.”

Kevin Mann, sitting behind a set of computer monitors, reassured her.

“Just relax,” he said. “A lot of people watch these again and again, especially during the holidays. Just tell them what you’re feeling.”

Mann counted down from three and pointed to the Army wife. On a monitor, the video feed faded from black to the image of Day and her three children – 9-year-old Andrew, 7-year-old Sarah and 3-month-old Aubrey – waving.

Jennifer’s husband, Staff Sgt. Timothy Day, is serving in Iraq with the Fort Lewis-based 51st Signal Battalion and won’t return until August.

But through a national program called Operation Best Wishes, his family recorded a video that the deployed soldier could watch online.

The national program made its stop at Fort Lewis on Friday, operating from an office at America’s Credit Union. Mann, a webcast producer who recorded, mixed and uploaded the videos, said about 35 families had signed up.

About 2,000 recordings are made each year, he said. Most are destined for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, but others have gone to soldiers serving in Japan, South Korea and elsewhere.

Recordings can last up to 10 minutes – though Mann said he usually lets families talk as long as they like – and they remain online for six months. The families also receive two CDs containing the video file.

The Fort Lewis-based credit union has hosted the program for three years. Operation Best Wishes comes at no expense to the credit union, CEO Ken Leonard said, and the program is consistent with the mission of supporting military customers.

“As long as they offer it,” he said, “we’ll host the program.”

Jennifer Day wanted to record a video that her husband could watch repeatedly. She learned about the program through her family readiness group and pulled her kids out of school early for the day so they could make it.

“I would not miss this,” she said.

Andrew and Sarah each held a teddy bear decked out in Army-style camouflage and a tan beret. Sarah was nervous when the cameras began recording, but she opened up with a little convincing from Mom.

“I love you. I really, really, really, really, really miss you,” Sarah said into the camera. She then flashed a wide smile.

“This is really exciting!” she said.

Sarah told her father she was excited about Thanksgiving; they’d eat a small turkey and pumpkin pie. And she told him what was on her wish list for Santa: a Nintendo DS and “a big horsey.”

The big celebration that awaits the sergeant when he returns was the next topic. “When you get home,” Sarah said, “we’ll go to a farm and have a party at that farm.”

The Days waved and blew kisses at the camera as they said good-bye.

The next family sent their love to Qatar.

Lischelle Oliver talks to her husband, Sgt. Terraill Oliver, almost every day since he deployed July 3. But she wanted to record a video he can watch whenever he has a chance.

The 24-year-old Lakewood resident arrived with her 7-month-old son, LaTreyal. Minutes before she was set to start, she was brushing his hair and worrying that the look on his face was too mean.

“He just gets kinda nervous around new people,” she said.

Sgt. Oliver, who’s a food inspector and veterinary technician, will miss a lot of special occasions during his 15-month deployment, so his wife wanted to make the most out of the video.

“I want to wish you a good Thanksgiving, a merry Christmas, a happy New Year and a happy birthday,” she said. “We love you.”

Scott Fontaine: 253-320-4758

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