Manas servicemember gets married by proxy to bride 16,000 miles away

Published Aug. 18, 2008
By Tech. Sgt. Michael Voss
376th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

MANAS AIR BASE, KYRGYZ REPUBLIC -- The marvels of modern technology helped bridge the long-distance divide for a Manas Airman and his sweetheart halfway around the world, bringing their relationship to a new level as husband and wife thanks to a morale center phone call and an Internet webcam.

Staff Sgt. Albert Jensen married to his long time sweetheart back in Hawaii, Charlene Kehaualani Meyer, through a proxy marriage ceremony, Aug. 8. A proxy marriage was Sergeant Jensen's only option to marry while deployed because it allows someone else to stand in for him during the ceremony, which took place 16,000 miles away from Manas.

After some research, the couple discovered that the state of Montana authorizes marriage by proxy with the only legal requirement for a double-proxy wedding being that at least one member of the couple is either a Montana resident or a member of the United States armed forces. Most other states that allow proxy marriages require at least one member of the couple to be present at the wedding.

"I discovered that a double proxy ceremony was the best way for us to have the event I had wished for and still allow it to be special while we're apart," said Sergeant Jensen.
An added bonus to doing a proxy wedding was that the couple was able to have their former base chaplain and friend conduct the ceremony from Montana - for a bride in Hawaii and groom in the Kyrgyz Republic.

So in the early morning hours of Friday, Aug. 8, Sergeant Jensen answered that all life altering question with an "I Do."

"When Sergeant Jensen asked me to be his best woman, I couldn't help but to giggle," said 376th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron technician Staff Sgt. Renee Pecpec. "I was kind of lost in translation, until he said that he was getting married by proxy. I told him of course I'd be his best woman!"

Albert and "Char," as he affectionately refers to Charlene, have been dating for more than six years. The couple met in 1970 at Hawaii's North Shore when Sergeant Jensen was in the Army and although getting married 16,000 miles apart is not easy, he described it as if it did not matter how far apart they were it because it was "time to forge ahead with the relationship."

"On the evening of the marriage, we sipped sparkling grape juice and pretended it was sweet wine," said Sergeant Pecpec. "When Sergeant Jensen, Char and the chaplain were on the phone, he had the biggest smile I had ever seen. When I heard the words, 'I do,' I was really touched and happy for him."

"To some it may seem like a proxy marriage is a little foreign or strange, but to us it just made sense," said Sergeant Jensen. "We will have a royal Hawaiian wedding one day in the future."

In the end, the proxy wedding spanned 16 time zones between Manas, Montana and Hawaii, and the longtime companions were united in an unusual, but monumental ceremony that truly showcased the core value of service before self.