MANHASSET, N.Y. (AP) – Despite being deployed some 6,000 miles away in Asia, Air Force Capt. Michael Schaefer was able to take part in his son’s birth on Long Island.

A survivor of the Pentagon terrorist attack on Sept. 11, Schaefer was able to encourage his wife by Webcam as their firstborn was delivered at North Shore University Hospital early Sunday.

New mom Gannon Schaefer told reporters at the Manhasset hospital that she felt as if her husband was by her side as Jackson Jeffrey Schaefer was born.

The couple live in Chicago but Gannon Schaefer, a Merrick native, is visiting her parents.

Her husband, who also took part in Wednesday’s news conference by Webcam, is due to return on New Year’s Eve and says he can’t wait to hold his son.