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CNN Live Today

Many Boats Arrive in New York During Fleet Week

Aired May 22, 2002 - 14:26   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In New York City it is Fleet Week. There are some fantastic sights right there, along the Hudson River, working their way through the New York Harbor, and Michael Okwu is standing by live to watch and bring us the sights again.

Michael, hello. Good afternoon.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.

A beautiful day here in Lower Manhattan, Battery Park City to be exact.

The last of 20 naval ships has steamed past us. 6,000 marines and sailors onboard, each one of them standing at attention and saluting as they basically travel past Ground Zero.

I'm here now with Lt. Cmdr. Chris Peterschmidt. Chris, just -- what does it mean for those sailors, the men and women who are onboard, to be here today?

LT. CMDR. CHRIS PETERSCHMIDT, U.S. NAVY: Well, to be here today, like in all the past 15 Fleet Weeks is -- we have a special relationship with the city of New York, this time more so than ever.

Most of the sailors having participated in Operation Enduring Freedom, and having come back from the war in Afghanistan, the war on terrorism. And now to come back to the city of New York, which really does a great job of opening its arms. It does over 250 events that the city sponsors for the sailors that come here -- everything from tours of the World Trade Center site to marching in 14 different parades to doing the typical arm wrestling competitions and cook offs and that type of thing.

OKWU: You're going to have a very busy week here.

PETERSCHMIDT: Very busy week.

OKWU: Just moments ago, a flyby. A special flyby. Will you tell me about that a little?

PETERSCHMIDT: First of all, the planes flying by on the Hudson River have all participated in Operation Enduring Freedom. It was led by one man, Capt. Caffey (ph), who is the commander air wing for the Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group, and he led the strikes into Afghanistan, and he brought his jet up here to lead the formations in New York today.

OKWU: And also, it's been a day of many special occasions. Not just a flyby, but also a flag. Tell me a little bit about that flag, which we saw just moments ago, being transported somewhere uptown for some sort of ceremony, I understand.

PETERSCHMIDT: Right. This flag is being brought back to New York today. It was given to the United States Marine Corp. back in October. It was the flag that was raised in the courtyard of the World Trade Center, through there.

It was given to the marines. The marines took it to Afghanistan, to the Kandahar Airport. There, it's been passed around to a number of different ships, a number of different squadrons around the country. And now it was brought up from Norfolk onboard the ships, passed around the ships here, and just was flown by us on a helicopter Saturday morning, on Marine Corp. day at Central Park, the marines will be giving the flag back to the New York Police Dept. on behalf of the United States military.

OKWU: You have a personal story as well. You were the second in command of the U.S.S. Cole. You served on the waters outside of Afghanistan. What does it mean for you to be here today? You must be feeling some sense of emotion.

PETERSCHMIDT: This is especially meaningful for me today.

One, I'm just very happy to help bring the sailors to New York. Also, just talking to the people I've met now in New York, who have had similar experiences, in the sense of overcoming great challenges, and defeating the terrorists, and proving that we were right and they were wrong, and showing our strength.

All of those themes, I'm reliving again. I saw it in the young sailors on my ship, on the U.S.S. Cole, and I'm seeing that in New York, and it's just a great, great handshake embrace between New York and the sailors here and coming in this weekend.

OKWU: Thank you so much for being with us.

PETERSCHMIDT: It's a great honor.

OKWU: Bill, not just a great display here, but also a day full of meaning. Back to you.

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