by Amanda Hara
WOODBURY, Tenn. - A military mom said she would do anything to answer her son's phone call from overseas, no matter what the cost.
Some seven months ago, Lance Corporal Mark Rhyne left the little town of Woodbury, for the remote deserts of Afghanistan.
"I told my son the day he deployed as he was about to get on that bus, 'I will stand in your steed while you are gone, I will stand,'" his mother Teresa Danford said.
On Monday, while working inside the Crane Interiors factory, Teresa Danford said she kept her word.
Mark called from Afghanistan, using a Satellite phone. It was a rare opportunity he only gets maybe once a month.
"You don't want to miss a word because truthfully that might be the last time you hear from them," Danford said.
Danford knew about Crane's no cell phone policy but answered anyway.
"There is nothing in this world that would stop a mother from answering a phone call from her son and what if it was not my son? What if he'd been hurt and someone was trying to contact me?" asked Danford.
The next day, Teresa was suspended from work without pay for three days. This was a first offense, and managers told her next time, she'd be fired.
"I said 'you are aware that my son is serving in Afghanistan and he can only call me when that sat phone gets to his unit' and he looked me straight in the eyes and said 'yes,'" Danford said.
Larry Officer is a Human Resource Manager at Crane Interiors. He sent NewsChannel 5 the following statement: "It is our policy that there is to be no cell phones used during working hours due to safety concerns within a production environment. Employees are allowed to use cell phones during breaks and lunches. We have a communicated policy for all employees to be reached in case of an emergency."
Danford said she fully expects to be fired for going public. But she remembered the promise she made to her son, the promise to always support him.
"If I didn't do this, then I couldn't live with myself. So if I lose my job, I lose my job. But I will have done what I gave my son my word that I would do," Danford added.
A lot of people have gotten wind of this story already, and they're not ignoring it.
A petition was posted online to demand that military family members are granted the right to answer calls from their loved ones serving over seas.
That's all Danford was asking for. She said talking to her son once a month gives her peace of mind, and gives her son the strength he needs to continue his work overseas.
Danford's son is scheduled to return home in a month, when he'll meet his son for the first time.
Email: ahara@newschannel5.com
This is just So wrong!
http://www.newschannel5.com/story/14053076/military-mom-pays-high-price-for-speaking-with-son ( Military Mom Pays Price For Speaking With Son )
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/cellphonebanban ( Petition for Basic Right to speak to your deployed loved one )
