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CNN Live At Daybreak
Five Soldiers Receive Bronze Star as Operation Anaconda Winds Down
Aired March 18, 2002 - 05:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Just over two weeks from its beginning, Operation Anaconda is coming to a close in Eastern Afghanistan. U.S. military officials say the mission against Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in the Shah-e-Kot Valley will end later today. And the soldiers who fought with valor there in Afghanistan were honored during a medal ceremony today.
CNN's Martin Savidge joins us live from the Bagram Air Base with the latest on these developments - good morning, Martin.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Carol.
And as you point out, Operation Anaconda now in Day 17, but the end is near. Not to sound like doomsayer, actually, we'll have more about that in just a moment.
There are continuing operations, though, in the lower Shah-e-Kot Valley for the remaining hours; coalition forces are out there. But this was a day not so much to remember the operation, as to remember those who fought in it. And specifically, there were five Bronze Stars that were handed out to soldiers that either served with valor or meritoriously, out there with bravery and under intense fire from enemy forces.
And the man who was presenting the medals was General Tommy Franks, the overall commander of all the forces here in the war in Afghanistan. He came from Tampa, Florida to pin those medals on in person. And one of those -- one of the things he spoke about was Operation Anaconda. And listen to what he has to say about it...
GEN. TOMMY FRANKS, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: When we started this thing, we said that we have an objective area down in the vicinity of Shah-e-Kot and we were going to go down there and confirm or deny what our intelligence had given us about the enemy. We did that. These very brave people, in company with a bunch of coalition people, went in there and did the work that needed to be done, cleared this objective area -- or they're finishing the clearing of this objective area. And my anticipation is that Anaconda will probably close in the next 12 hours.
SAVIDGE: One of those recipients of the Bronze Star is with me right now, and that is Staff Sergeant David Hruban -- congratulations to you, sir. STAFF SGT. DAVID HRUBAN, U.S. ARMY: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: How did it feel being up there on that stage in front of all your fellow soldiers and the general pinning that on you? What was going through your mind?
HRUBAN: Just a great sense of accomplishment and a lot of pride. I felt very honored.
SAVIDGE: Tell us the circumstances under which you got the medal.
HRUBAN: My company's third platoon had been pinned down by Taliban mortar fire. They were being bracketed and their platoon sergeant was stuck in the low ground pinned down. So we got an immediate suppression mission, my mortar section fired it. We only had hand-held mode 60 millimeter mortars and we pushed max range and we were able to suppress the enemy far enough up a ridge for a closer force to be called in.
SAVIDGE: And the man you say came up to your unit a couple of days later, what did he say to you?
HRUBAN: Frank Agnon took me and my mortar section aside and he thanked us for saving his life. He said it's something he's never going to forget. And he told us that, you know, we should never forget it. And I won't, because it was one of the best feelings in the world.
SAVIDGE: I imagine, yeah, you will never forget it. I won't forget it because as it turns out, we were right beside you. We were the there the night that this fire fight came down and we actually watched you at work, and now we've been able to see you receive the award for it.
You were in Somalia. How does this compare to that operation?
HRUBAN: The mission in Somalia was more peacekeeping. And this mission was a lot more offensive. What we trained to do is to fight and to kill and to win the wars. This one definitely a lot more focus towards that. And...
SAVIDGE: Quite a fight.
HRUBAN: Yeah.
SAVIDGE: It was. Staff Sergeant, congratulations to you.
HRUBAN: All right. Thank you.
SAVIDGE: And also to those who were on your team, because they were all part of the effort.
HRUBAN: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: Thank you. As you heard, though, General Tommy Franks says that this operation will conclude by about 11:00 PM local time here. And that is roughly about eight hours away. But he also says that American military forces -- coalition forces -- have their sights set on another target. Surprisingly, he didn't say where -- Carol.
COSTELLO: No, not surprising at all. Thank you, Martin Savidge, reporting live for us from Afghanistan this morning.
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