Updated at 7:38 a.m., Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Omaha TV station helps Schofield soldier return
Advertiser Staff
A Schofield soldier who was stranded in his hometown of Omaha, Neb., was saved from being considered AWOL with the help of a TV station in his hometown.Station WOWT in Omaha reported on Monday that Pvt. Nick Sharpnack, 18, returned to Omaha on leave to say goodbye to his mother before he deploys to Iraq, but a problem with an airline ticket threatened to keep him in Omaha for weeks until a new voucher from CheapTickets.com arrived or enough money could be cobbled together to cover a $,1,000-plus one-way airfare to O'ahu.
Sharpnack's story was reported by WOWT's Mike McKnight, who wrote that Sharpnack had to be back at Schofield by Thursday or risk being considered AWOL.
The complete story and video can be seen at:
www.wowt.com/news/headlines/11228906.html.
According to the story, the TV station's Six on Your Side crew contacted a media representative for CheapTickets.com, who helped Sharpnack avoid a $1,000 one-way ticket, got him back to Hawai'i on time and offered to make up any differences caused by the ticket snafu.
WOWT.com reported that Sharpnack will be deploying soon to Iraq for 18 months.
