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NORTON - Marion Johnson hasn't spoken to her son Keith in quite a while.

Keith is stationed with the 181st Infantry in Baghdad, providing security for U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and United Nations dignitaries.

And while he has e-mail access, "phone calls are harder to come by, probably once every few days," he said in a recent e-mail to The Sun Chronicle.

Johnson's mother has enlisted her employer, Holman Insurance in Attleboro, and Norton Curves for a fundraiser for phone cards for soldiers in his unit. Holman Insurance has donated $500, she said. And Norton Curves will give a free workout to anyone who donates $10 or more.

Marion Johnson recently sent Keith a check for $1,000 from the fundraiser, which started in September. "To call home, that costs them money," Mrs. Johnson said. "So if they have phone cards, they don't have to worry about it.

"As a mother, it's difficult. But I can't imagine what it's like if they have a wife and children."

Keith is married, and he and his wife have a 2-year-old son.

"With my wife at home chasing a two-year-old with more energy than an atomic bomb, she doesn't have time to sit by a computer waiting for e-mails, so a quick phone call to reassure her everything is OK certainly goes a long way," said Keith, 32, a 1993 graduate of Norton High School.

"My son worries about Daddy, too. So it is imperative that I speak with him as often as possible. When I do get to speak to my wife and son, it brings me home, even if for just a short period: mentally I am 5,000 miles from here. It is hard to be stressed or take things too seriously when I am listening to my son tell me he loves me and misses me, or better yet, when he tells me he is going to steal my nose or Lucy (our dog) is in time out. I feel more like Leo's dad than Sergeant First Class Johnson."

He said there's usually a line at the Morale Welfare Recreation office, which has a phone. "Given the Boston-Baghdad time difference of eight hours, everybody is trying to take advantage of the same small window of opportunity."

"The phone cards are going to allow my soldiers to call home and have a piece of normalcy in a place where normalcy can be hard to come by," Johnson continued.

"You can't quantify that. You can't measure a smile. These donors just allowed a soldier to talk to a loved one. Just the simple fact that so many people went out of their way to do this for the platoon and support us speaks volumes about the communities we all come from. What my mother, Rick Diagacamo, Holman Insurance, Curves and so many others have done is just incredible and we are forever grateful."

To contribute to the fundraiser, contact Marion Johnson at johnson_mft@yahoo.com or visit Holman Insurance in Attleboro or Norton Curves in Norton.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER covers Norton for The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.