Valentine’s video sent from Kuwait

Soldier from Fort Gordon posts love to wife, children.

True love has no boundaries.

Just ask Chief Warrant Officer 2 Maurice Woods, who was deployed for a year in November from Fort Gordon to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait to provide Army leadership with views of potential combat zones as an imagery technician.

Woods, 36, is one of 30 service members from 13 states to send their loved ones video greetings for Valentine’s Day through the U.S. Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System, better known in the military community as DVIDS.

During the holidays, 2,428 greetings from all 50 states and 16 countries were posted through the online network. For Thanksgiving, 401 greetings from 45 states and three countries were uploaded, according to system’s website.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Woods said in his 20-second clip to his Valentines, who include his wife of seven years, Darshell Woods, and the Augusta couple’s two children: Arielle, 4, and Marcellus, 1. “Daddy loves you and I will be home soon.”

This is Woods’ second deployment since being sent to Iraq in 2006 for a year, but the first time he has been away from his children and apart from his wife on Valentine’s Day since he was sent to Korea in 2008.

In a telephone interview from Kuwait, Woods said he has never done an official Army video greeting through DVIDS, but when he saw a videographer recording messages, he immediately thought of his wife and two children.

“Most Valentine’s Days we try to find a place to get away and spend time alone together,” Maurice said of his wife, who he plans to video chat with Saturday today to celebrate Valentine’s Day. “Although I couldn’t be with her this year, I wanted her to know she’s my BFF and the best part of my life.”

Maurice Woods said on Valentine’s Day 2013, the couple were moving to Fort Gordon from Fort Huachuca in Arizona and the year before welcomed their son into their family. But in 2012, he said the two went to the Grand Canyon.

Darshell Woods, 34, said she dearly misses being with her husband this year, but was moved when she saw her husband’s personalized Valentine’s message.

“My husband is so good about sending flowers, cards and greetings on birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions,” she said. “I don’t know what I would do without my husband. Life would be horrible without my Rees.”

Maurice and Darshell Woods met in 2006 while Maurice was stationed at the Pentagon and each was living in the highrise Cascade at Landmark apartment complex in Alexandria, Va.

Darshell, who lived on the fourth floor, began quizzing the building’s concierge for information about a soldier who had recently moved into the eighth floor.

“Then one day, after she got enough intel on me, she followed me to the elevator and we began our dialogue, exchanged some information and from there on, went on a lot of dates and spent a lot of time together,” Maurice Woods said. “Since then, it has just been me and her. We fell in love.”

As a graduate of University of Virginia, Darshell Woods knew the area well and the couple quickly became wine connoisseurs, live-poetry enthusiasts and art lovers — hobbies both said evolved when the couple became avid travelers.

“We had really good chemistry and just liked having fun,” Darshell Woods said. “It was like we were long lost friends.”

Maurice Woods said when he returns in November, he wants to visit an art gala or fashion show with Darshell to make up a missed Valentine’s Day.

Maurice said he wants to secure a permanent change of station from Fort Gordon, where he has been for nearly two years, to the Washington area for him to move up the Army ranks, be closer to family and support his wife’s career in program management.

In the meantime, the couple said they are trying to survive what they described as a challenging deployment experience.

Maurice Woods emails and video chats with his wife and children almost daily at 4 p.m. Augusta time — 2 a.m. in Kuwait — but the conversations fail to emulate the “positive energy and spirit” he brings to their lives, Darshell said.