Marine in Fallujah sees daughter born in Hartford

Videoconference Lets Marine In Iraq See Newborn Daughter
By HILARY WALDMAN Courant Staff Writer
September 4, 2008
Brandon Hotard has waited 10 years to become a father. So when it finally happened at 9:39 a.m. Wednesday, he couldn't wait to see his new daughter — even if he was halfway across the world.
With the help of a satellite hookup and some pretty sophisticated computer equipment, Hotard, a corporal in the Marine Corps serving in Fallujah, Iraq, got his first look at Breanna Sophia Hotard four hours after she was born at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford.
Exhausted and in some pain after a Caesarean section, Hotard's wife, Mariela, smiled, waved the baby's tiny arm and whispered "Hi, Daddy" when Hotard's face appeared on a flat-screen computer monitor at the foot of her bed."I told you when I saw the sonogram she looked like you," Mariela told her husband in a long-distance conversation that was a bit awkward because of a three-second delay.
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