Anthony Vidinha stationed in Iraq, keeping in touch with his family in Puhi

Army Spc. Anthony Vidinha, Jr. of Puhi is now serving in Iraq, and one of at least several dozen of Kaua’i’s men and women who are involved in the Iraq War.

However, though half a world away from home the Kaua’i servicepeople are finding ways to keep in close touch with family through e-mail and advanced telephone communications.

Vidinha’s mother, Cecilia Vidinha, received a call from her son at 2:45 a.m. Kaua’i time Saturday, or about mid-afternoon Saturday in Iraq.

“Calls have been few and far between,” said Cecilia , who said her son couldn’t say where he was stationed in Iraq, but that he was in the besiged nation.

Anthony, 25, is a graduate of Waimea High School, and of the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.

His mother said he joined the Army to help pay off his student loans, and still has about a year and a half left in the service.

He was stationed in Germany prior to being sent to Iraq.

“In the beginning I tried not to look at the news, fearing the worst always,” Vidinha’s mother siad. “I guess I was in denial that he was actually there.”

“As more calls come in I feel much better, but still I worry,” she said.

While the Iraq war is now apparently winding down, with the Pentagon’s announcement that the major fighting in the conflict is over, it is still uncertain when local men and women serving in the Army, Marines, Navy and other branches of the service will be reassigned.