Listen: Soldier Accidentally Phones Home During Firefight
Parents hear son in the middle of Afghan firefight during accidental call.
May 7, 2008— -- Soldier Stephen Phillips says he's embarrassed and feels bad that his cell phone accidentally dialed his parents' number and left a three-minute voice mail replete with gunfire and cursing.
"It's kind of better that they didn't know the reality of it I think. That makes them worry more, and that makes me worry that they're worried," said the 21-year-old Army specialist.
His stepfather, Jeff Petee, said the first thing he thought when he heard the message was "I hope someone gives him more ammo," in response to Phillips' urgent plea for ammunition that can be heard on the tape. "It made the hair stand up on the back of my head."
Phillips had accidentally called home during a firefight in Afghanistan. Having tried to reach his family in Otis, Ore., earlier that day, the phone's "redial" feature was activated as Phillips pressed against the cell phone midbattle. His mother, Sandie Petee, found the three-minute message, which was studded with several curse words and ended with the words "incoming R-P-G!"
"There was small arms fire and RPGs coming in. … My phone got pushed up against the wall, and I had my parents on speed dial and I didn't lock my key pad," Phillips explained, adding that he wished his family didn't have to hear the recording.
"You had no idea what was going on. … That's part of war, that's part of life. … It was heart-wrenching," Jeff Petee told "Good Morning America" today.
"It was a wake-up call," said the soldier's mother.
His younger brother, John Petee, posted the audio tape on the Internet because he wanted "to give everybody an understanding of what was going on overseas." After it drew national media attention his stepfather said Phillips "kind of wishes it would go away."
Phillips said he shouldn't be made out to be a hero, and that the real heroes are his friends who've sacrificed their lives, not him. His girlfriend, also a soldier, died in Iraq last year.
In addition to the chaos and gunfire, what appears to be the soldiers identifying where enemy fire is coming from is also heard. "Back in the corner," someone shouts. Moments later, "We need more ammo."
"The tape cuts off with 'incoming R-P-G!' so we started calling him and finally got a hold of him and found out that he was OK and that they survived," Jeff Petee said.
Phillips is currently on his way back to the states, as his 15-month tour of duty in the region is over. After a stop at Fort Stewart, Ga., the soldier is due to be posted with the Border Patrol in Arizona, according to his family.
Jeff Petee joked that the first thing he'll probably have to do when Phillips gets home is "stop him from beating up his brother for putting it on the Internet."
Petee's daughter's fiancé is also a soldier, though he is posted in Iraq. "I definitely think all the soldiers over there are heroes," he said.