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JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – Thanks to a donation from Best Buy to the USO of Jacksonville, Marines in North Carolina can play video games with Marines at the USO in Afghanistan.

Pollynna Haas, whose son is stationed at Camp Lejeune and currently deployed, sent an e-mail to Best Buy asking about old display equipment and other used items. While the store couldn't donate items to Haas, their policy does allow them to donate to a nonprofit. So the USO of Jacksonville stepped in.

The gaming systems are headed to Afghanistan, giving Marines at home and overseas a new way to connect.

“They can talk smack and ask questions that they really want to know in a way that's exactly in their comfort zone,” USO Director Gia Wagner said.

Wagner says she was thinking of a way to host gaming tournaments, so it's a win-win.

“If they have friends and family who are online, they'll be able to connect with them as well and keep up with each other and have a friendly competition at the same time,” she said.

Best Buy is donating four different gaming systems to the USO in Afghanistan. Officials say they are talking about the possibility of expanding the program to other parts of the country.