By Michael Case

Our service members and their families make incredible sacrifices every day, but especially when service members are on deployment, with limited time and ways to speak with one another.

For over 77 years, the USO has been helping connect troops to their loved ones by providing phones, calling cards and more to make it easy for service members to hear their loved ones’ voices from thousands of miles away.

You can help ensure that our military members get the USO support they deserve. Take action, donate today.

Check out these historical photos of phone calls home through the years:

1. c. 1957 - An Army private makes an overseas phone call from USO Seoul in South Korea.

Photo credit USO Archives

2. 1970 - A sailor calls home from USO Saigon in Vietnam.

Photo credit USO Archives

A sailor calls home from USO Saigon in 1970.

3. 2017 - A soldier calls home using a phone card.

4. c. 1985 - A service member uses the telephone at a USO center.

Photo credit USO Archives

A service member uses the telephone at a USO center circa 1985.

5. 2017 - Soldiers relax and use their smartphones at a USO center in South Korea.

Photo credit USO/Joseph A. Lee

6. c. 2004 - Sailors talk on their cell phones at a USO center.

Photo credit USO Archives

7. 2009 - Service members use the phones at a USO center in Kuwait.

Photo credit USO Archives

Service members use the phones at a USO center in Kuwait in 2009.

8. 1972 - A service member calls home from USO Frankfurt in Germany.

Photo credit USO Archives

9. 2016 - A Coast Guardsman talks on the phone in a USO center.

Thank you USO donors for helping us provide troops with free calls home!

The USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense. The appearance of DoD visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.