The graduation ceremony at Fayette County’s Whitewater High School Friday night was viewed by the customary mass of family and friends on hand for the once in a lifetime occasion.

And it was viewed in Baghdad by U.S. Air Force Capt. William Cooke, who was able to watch his three sons, 18-year-old triplets Cory, Sean and Kyle, receive their diplomas. The streaming video for the event was provided by Atlanta’s 11 Alive television.

Speaking about the graduation Monday, Cory said he and his brothers were excited about the opportunity to speak with their father nearly half a world away and to have him watch the ceremony.

“Last Friday night 11 Alive was actually at our graduation. After we got our diplomas they told us to go over to a TV. And our dad was on the TV and we got to talk to each other,” Cory said.

The Air Force officer left for Iraq just before Christmas and will be there until the end of July, when he is expected to return to an airbase in Florida where he is stationed.

“We were shocked. We didn’t know we were going to be able to see him,” Kyle said sitting at his dining room table, happy that the local television station had made the preparations that made the graduation even more special.

The boys’ mom, Kim Bridges, said she was thankful for the coverage and for her sons to be able to have their dad on video as part of the graduation experience.

Yet the experience was one that touched more lives that those of her sons, she said. Kim said there was another student at the graduation whose father is a contractor in Iraq. Thanks to the broadcast, he was also able to see the graduation, she said.

“I think this touched more lives than just us,” Kim said, explaining that while visiting her mother in north Georgia over the weekend the family met a person that saw the graduation event on television with Cory, Kyle and Sean and their dad. “I think this touched so many lives. Not just the ones graduating, but also the people serving overseas.”

It is nearly 6,800 miles from metro Atlanta to Baghdad. That fact was not lost on Sean who, too, appreciated the television crew and the technology that made the streaming video possible.

“I think it’s pretty amazing that they can do that with the technology we have. It was pretty great that they made the effort to let him see us graduate while he was so far away,” Sean said. “It felt like he was actually there. It was pretty great.”

Next up for the three will be another new experience. College. Kyle is headed to Gordon College in Barnesville while Sean and Cory are bound for West Georgia University in Carrollton.

Sitting in her home Monday and reflecting not just on the graduation, but also on the lives of her three boys, Kim made a point to thank her husband Rodney for his all his help over the years, both with raising the boys and providing them with a home and with love.

“As happy as I was for them to see their dad, Rodney was just as excited,” Kim said happily.

Kim also thanked Whitewater High and Carolyn Smith for their help in facilitating the broadcast.