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Troops in Pacific get free video chat

Thousands of service members in the Pacific region will be connecting with their stateside family and friends throughout the holidays through free Skype voice and video calls offered at 18 USO locations.

The initiative kicks off with hundreds of service members having Thanksgiving dinner at three USO centers — Guam; Yokosuka, Japan; and Camp Hansen, Okinawa — and sharing their turkey experience with their loved ones back home.

These face-to-face Skype video conversations at the USO centers will happen Thanksgiving Eve for stateside families, because of the time difference.

The free virtual visits are set up through a Holiday Military Connection program partnership with the USO and Skype.

Service members can make the free video calls to friends and family from any of the 18 Pacific region USO centers through the holiday season. Information about a cutoff date was not available from Skype.

Troops also can make unlimited free voice calls to cell phones and landlines of family members and friends through donated Skype Unlimited World subscription plans.

The subscriptions are downloaded on computers at the Pacific USO centers.