Watercooler Stories

Soldier has son two years after war death

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- The widow of a Texas soldier killed in the Iraq war has been able to give birth to his son more than two years after her husband's death.

Kathleen Carroll-Smith, 41, lost her husband, Army 2nd Lieutenant Brian Smith, in July, 2004, when he was shot by a sniper west of Baghdad., USA Today reports.

Her 7-month-old son, Benton Drew Smith, is one of the first children to be conceived from sperm left behind by a soldier who was killed in battle.

"I have a piece of Brian with me every day now," says Carroll-Smith.

It is not known exactly how many children have been artificially conceived after a father's death in war.

However, the Department of Veterans Affairs says it knows of two cases similar to Carroll-Smith's in the past three years.

Officials at the nation's three largest sperm-bank companies say about 100 soldiers make deposits each year, a small number relative to the number of troops deployed in combat.

Couple marries after 60 years apart

WACO, Texas, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- A Texas couple who fell in love in high school will be celebrating their first anniversary after being apart for 60 years.

Anna Huff and Bob Street met in 1946 when Anna was an usherette at the Orpheum Theater in Waco, Texas, and Bob was manager of the Waco High School football team, The Waco Tribune Herald reported.

The pair split up after Bob's graduation and went on to marry other people, who they were widowed or divorced from.

With the help of the Internet and directory assistance, Huff's daughter tracked down Street in Texarkana, Texas, and gave him her mother's phone number.

"It was as if there never was 60 years between us," Huff told the Tribune Herald after Street called her.

The two married last May a whirlwind courtship of one week and an engagement of one month, the newspaper said.

Philippines sets kissing world record

PASAY CITY, Philippines, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- A total 6,124 couples gathered for a simultaneous kiss in Pasay City, Philippines, setting a world record for most couples kissing in one place.

The Guinness Book of World Records has formally recognized the Saturday Lovapalooza event at the SM Mall of Asia as a world record, the Philippines Entertainment Portal reported Monday.

The couples were led by a group of celebrities on stage and included musical performances.

The Philippines set a previous world record for simultaneous smooches with the first Lovapalooza in 2004 but the title was taken the following year by Hungary.

Survey: Britons ignorant of sex ed facts

LONDON, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- A survey by Britain's Family Planning Association found that many respondents were ignorant of basic human reproduction facts.

The survey, conducted on behalf of the charity by pollsters Gfk NOP, found that one in three of the 500 respondents thought vigorous exercise, urination or washing after sexual intercourse would prevent a woman from becoming pregnant, The Telegraph reported Monday.

The survey, based on questions commonly asked by callers to the FPA's national helpline, also found that half of those surveyed did not know when a woman is at her peak fertility, and nearly nine in 10 did not know how long sperm could live inside the female body.

The FPA said the results of the survey, which was timed to coincide with the start of Contraceptive Awareness Week, illustrate the need for sex education to "become a statutory subject in the national curriculum."

"This survey exposes how far the current system of providing sex education is failing and also that people are acutely aware that it is letting them down," said Anne Weyman, chief executive of the FPA.