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CNN Live At Daybreak

Afghanistan Veteran's Medical Equipment Confiscated at Airport

Aired May 30, 2002 - 05:57   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: Can airport security go too far to protect passengers? A decorated soldier says he thinks they do.

CNN's Ed Lavandera gets the story from both sides of the conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LT. GREG MILLER, U.S. ARMY: I was shot in Afghanistan and it broke my jaw...

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First Lieutenant Greg Miller is back home in the U.S. nursing a gunshot wound he suffered during a mission in Kandahar, Afghanistan on April 18th.

MILLER: It went in here and out there.

LAVANDERA (on camera): So you had a bullet go through your head and you didn't even feel it?

MILLER: I didn't feel it because it severed the nerves.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Miller's mouth is wired shut, and until the wires come off, the Army soldier is supposed to carry a pair of wire cutters similar to these.

(on camera): This is in case you're choking or...

MILLER: Exactly. I'm choking, I get air sick, I have to throw up, any kind of medical emergency. I can't open my mouth without those wire cutters. Let me show you. You see these wires on top, the circular wires? That's in case they have to -- if I have an emergency, they have to open my jaw and they have to cut those wires.

LAVANDERA: Miller earned a Purple Heart for his service. Earlier this week, Miller was also in northern California; the guest of honor at a ceremony in his hometown for his duty in Afghanistan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To us, and to the city of Milbray (ph), and to your entire nation, Lieutenant Miller, you're a national hero.

LAVANDERA: But as he prepared to board a flight from San Francisco to Dallas Fort Worth Wednesday, airport security stepped in.

MILLER: They said, "No, you're not allowed to have it."

LAVANDERA: Miller told the airport security guards the wire cutters are a medical necessity, even though he hasn't had to use them yet.

(on camera): Did the military doctors or the military at all give you any kind of letter saying that you needed to have this?

MILLER: No, they just gave me the wire cutters and said, "Don't go anywhere without them." As a matter of fact, they gave me a direct order, "Don't go anywhere without them."

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Miller says arguing got him nowhere. The wire cutters were confiscated. San Francisco airport officials say Miller didn't clearly articulate why he needed the wire cutters.

MILLER: I was trying to explain that to the security personnel and they didn't want to listen to me.

LAVANDERA: A San Francisco airport spokesman says it's an unfortunate incident that highlights how difficult it is to balance tight security and common sense.

MIKE MCCARRON, SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT SPOKESMAN: It's a big lesson. It's just that it's a new system, we're still working out the kinks, and it's going to take some time before all these little bumps are smoothed out.

LAVANDERA (on camera): How frustrating is this for you?

MILLER: It sounds egotistical, but, I mean, this is because I was defending the country, and then I can't carry them on board, like I'm going to do something to the aircraft or something. It just really annoyed me.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): First Lieutenant Greg Miller will return to Afghanistan as soon as he's healthy. In the meantime, don't expect this 19-year Army veteran to keep quiet just because his mouth is wired shut.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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