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CNN Live At Daybreak
David Grange's Analysis of the Lundstuhl Press Conference
Aired March 27, 2003 - 06:40 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: You've been listening to some -- just so many emotions go through your head while you're listening to something like this, listening to three U.S. military members from Lundstuhl Hospital in Germany.
And we want to bring in General Grange to find out what struck you the most about listening to this press conference.
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, a couple of things. I think what's very important for everybody to understand is you had two sergeants there and I believe the other was a private. And...
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The Marine, Lance Corporal.
COSTELLO: Lance corporal.
GRANGE: Lance corporal, I'm sorry, corporal. So they're all NCOs, noncommissioned officers, which is like the sergeants, corporals, and they really are the junior leadership of the military, whether it be the Marine Corps or the Army. They -- they're the ones that make everything happen on the ground once the orders are given. No other military, except for like the British, Germans, Western armies have a true NCO corps, sergeants, it's officers and privates. So we are so fortunate we have that layer of junior leadership.
And if you heard the one sergeant, the staff sergeant talk about, you know, after he got hit you know you have this little bit of shock but then how's my driver?
COOPER: Yes, exactly.
GRANGE: The other -- the other...
COOPER: In fact, Horgan said I thought I'm going to die, I've got to warn the other guys. That's what he said.
GRANGE: He's responsible. See, so that's the advantage that, for instance, in this case the American and British military have over their opponents.
The other comment, the one sergeant, what happens when it's confusion, you're not sure what's going on, and he said training kicks in. In other words, once you grasp the situation, it may take a few seconds, then training takes over regardless if you're hurt.
COSTELLO: Yes, I was just going to bring in the fact about training, because one of them said there was absolutely no panic when the shooting started at all.
GRANGE: Yes. Yes. You know it's confusing, there's confusion, people are scared, but then they take -- you know their training takes over. So it's those two things struck me on that aspect.
And then the other is that -- you know the military is a second family to them. Very important because they feel responsible for each other. Just like the Band of Brothers, it's a very powerful feeling in combat.
COOPER: Well the other thing that Horgan said -- Charles Horgan, a U.S. Army sergeant, he said you join for your country, you fight for your friends.
GRANGE: Right, exactly. They fight for each other, that's the bottom line. I mean your immediate thoughts are who's on your left and right side of you. You know you're fighting for Great Britain or the United States of America, whatever the case may be, but you fight for each other, your immediate, who you're responsible for or who you're responsible to.
COSTELLO: Talk about the Band of Brothers, because they were saying they were watching on the laptop before going -- we've got to jump in.
GRANGE: OK.
COSTELLO: We've got to go away.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 27, 2003 - 06:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You've been listening to some -- just so many emotions go through your head while you're listening to something like this, listening to three U.S. military members from Lundstuhl Hospital in Germany.
And we want to bring in General Grange to find out what struck you the most about listening to this press conference.
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, a couple of things. I think what's very important for everybody to understand is you had two sergeants there and I believe the other was a private. And...
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The Marine, Lance Corporal.
COSTELLO: Lance corporal.
GRANGE: Lance corporal, I'm sorry, corporal. So they're all NCOs, noncommissioned officers, which is like the sergeants, corporals, and they really are the junior leadership of the military, whether it be the Marine Corps or the Army. They -- they're the ones that make everything happen on the ground once the orders are given. No other military, except for like the British, Germans, Western armies have a true NCO corps, sergeants, it's officers and privates. So we are so fortunate we have that layer of junior leadership.
And if you heard the one sergeant, the staff sergeant talk about, you know, after he got hit you know you have this little bit of shock but then how's my driver?
COOPER: Yes, exactly.
GRANGE: The other -- the other...
COOPER: In fact, Horgan said I thought I'm going to die, I've got to warn the other guys. That's what he said.
GRANGE: He's responsible. See, so that's the advantage that, for instance, in this case the American and British military have over their opponents.
The other comment, the one sergeant, what happens when it's confusion, you're not sure what's going on, and he said training kicks in. In other words, once you grasp the situation, it may take a few seconds, then training takes over regardless if you're hurt.
COSTELLO: Yes, I was just going to bring in the fact about training, because one of them said there was absolutely no panic when the shooting started at all.
GRANGE: Yes. Yes. You know it's confusing, there's confusion, people are scared, but then they take -- you know their training takes over. So it's those two things struck me on that aspect.
And then the other is that -- you know the military is a second family to them. Very important because they feel responsible for each other. Just like the Band of Brothers, it's a very powerful feeling in combat.
COOPER: Well the other thing that Horgan said -- Charles Horgan, a U.S. Army sergeant, he said you join for your country, you fight for your friends.
GRANGE: Right, exactly. They fight for each other, that's the bottom line. I mean your immediate thoughts are who's on your left and right side of you. You know you're fighting for Great Britain or the United States of America, whatever the case may be, but you fight for each other, your immediate, who you're responsible for or who you're responsible to.
COSTELLO: Talk about the Band of Brothers, because they were saying they were watching on the laptop before going -- we've got to jump in.
GRANGE: OK.
COSTELLO: We've got to go away.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
