GILFORD - Joy Hall doesn't feel like she has one son deployed in Afghanistan. It's more like 400.

Hall's son, U.S. Army Spc. Peter Freeman, 24, is deployed in Afghanistan with the 1-17 Infantry (Buffaloes) out of Fort Lewis in Washington state. Hall says every soldier in the unit is like a son to her.

"I've become kind of an adopted mom for them," said Hall.

Hall said when her son was first sent to Fort Lewis, the two talked often. Frequently, members of the unit would join in the conversation.

"They would yell out to me in the background," said Hall. "I talked to him on Mother's Day, and they would be yelling out, 'Hi Mom,' stuff like that. It was funny."

When Hall headed out to Washington to attend her son's deployment ceremony, she couldn't wait to meet the other members of his unit.

"I made it a point to meet them," said Hall. "I wanted to see who my son was heading over there with and wanted to put faces to some of the voices. They said, 'You can be like an adoptive mother for us all.' I really liked hearing that."


- Paul Feely