MONROE - Richard and Lynne Gensler beamed with pride last week as the silver oak leaf cluster was pinned to their son's Army fatigues during a promotion ceremony.
Scott Gensler, who was elevated to the rank of lieutenant colonel, was nowhere near southeast Michigan. But a live satellite video uplink from a classroom at Monroe County Community College to a military post in Baghdad allowed him and his parents and other family members to see each other for nearly an hour.
"It was very exciting. This was really wonderful. Even though it was halfway across the world, we did get to see it," said Mrs. Gensler. She and her husband live near Monroe.
The video conference was the first time the Genslers had seen each other since August when Colonel Gensler got married in Nebraska.
The officer's wife, Sarah, and her parents, also got to witness the promotion ceremony and visit with him through a video conference hookup in Omaha.
A 1987 graduate of Ida High School, Colonel Gensler, 38, was appointed to West Point Military Academy, graduating in 1991 with degrees in math and physics. He also has masters degrees in the same subjects from the University of Michigan.
The satellite video conference was arranged by the officer's brother, Paul Gensler, who was given permission to use the community college's nuclear engineering technology equipment.
Paul Gensler, 34, is enrolled in the program, which uses the video satellite technology to receive Internet classroom instruction from Lakeland Community College in eastern Ohio.
He was also present for the video conference, as were another brother, Marc, 36; sister, Valerie Schaefer, of Temperance, and Victor Gensler, who is Scott's grandfather. Melvin Gillespie, 90, a great uncle, and Madeline Smith, 92, a great aunt, also attended.
The event also brought together three generations of military veterans: Richard Gensler served in the Army during the Vietnam war; Victor Gensler and Melvin Gillespie are veterans of World War II; Paul was in the Army and spent a year in Iraq, and Marc served in the Air Force during the Gulf War.
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