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CNN Live Today

Former POWs Receive Warm Homecoming

Aired April 21, 2003 - 11:21   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The former American prisoners of war held by Iraq are facing more medical tests and counseling this week. The seven made an emotional return to their bases in Texas over the weekend. We have CNN correspondents at both today. We have our Ed Lavandera. He is at Fort Bliss, and Susan Candiotti is at Fort Hood.
Ed's going to start us off in West Texas.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn. Well, here it was a quiet day for the former POWs yesterday as they were able to spend time with their families and catch up. But today, they have some work to get done. Today they're beginning four -- what is expected to be about four days of medical testing, just the standard types of procedures that medical officials here at this base want these soldiers to undergo, and essentially what this is for is that since these so soldiers were POWs, they're put into what the Army calls a POW program where they will be checked up on constantly over many, many years to come. Depending on what their situation is like. So what they want to do is establish a base of conditions that they want to be able to compare notes to as they move forward in being reintegrated into Army life here in the U.S. So, those soldiers undergoing tests this morning, beginning those tests this morning at a medical center just off post here at Fort Bliss and the colonel of that hospital, who was one of the first soldiers to walk onto the C-17 plane on Saturday night to greet these soldiers and welcome them home say they are all in very good shape at this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

We not only have all these medical checkups and establishing a baseline, but we also have mental health folks involved. We have very specialized psychologists from Fort Bragg, who are experts in captivity psychology. They are helping us with this. We have our own mental health folks who are working with families to be able to help them understand the integration process back into the family, and getting used to being back home. And we're also trying to help them with the stress of being celebrities at the moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And medical officials here can't stress enough the importance of being able to handle all of this attention. Yesterday morning, we ran into Patrick Miller after he was wrapping up breakfast with his family. We just happened to eat at the same place. And he was the soldier that you saw on Saturday night, waving the American flag out of the top of the C-17 aircraft as it pulled into the tarmac at Fort Bliss, and he was looking at the newspaper stands just outside the restaurant, and he told me that when he and Joseph Hudson, the other soldier that popped out of the aircraft, when they saw that crowd, they said they had no idea that this many people were going to show up for their homecoming, and also Shoshana Johnson's best friend told us yesterday that she was amazed at just how much attention her company's unit has been getting. So this is a big adjustment for these soldiers to make -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Thank you.

Let's move east now to Fort Hood. That is where two Apache helicopter pilots are based, and bring in our Susan Candiotti -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. Pilots David Williams and Ronald Young are now spending their second full day at the base here, their home base back here at Fort Hood, and, of course, after being reunited with their families, they're trying to get their lives back to normal as best they can. There are counselors available to them, as well, if they need them.

Meantime, they're getting a lot of tender loving care from their families, a lot of hugs and embraces continue between David Williams and his wife and his relatives as well as the Young family. Of course, Kaye Young loves to give hugs to her son, and he, in return, we are told by his relatives that he can't seem to get enough of those hugs these days. And in fact, we are told that Mrs. Young gave one of her welcomed embraces to President Bush and Mrs. Bush as well as his parents. Now, Mark Young, Ron's older brother, describes what that moment was like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK YOUNG, BROTHER OF FORMER POW: Bush Jr., she grabbed him up and gave him a big hug, and which was -- and then when Bush Sr. come by, she happened to grab him up, and give him the same big hug.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Now, both families have also been getting to know each other since this ordeal ended. Of course, both pilots knew each other long before the war, and so did the immediate families, but they're getting to know each other better and better, and one of the relatives, a cousin of Dave Williams, as a matter of fact, said that he can see that the two pilots are even closer than they ever have been before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDDIE SMITH, COUSIN OF FORMER POW: You can really look in their eyes and you can see that they've got a real connection, and they probably had that before, but it's even stronger now, I'm sure, when you're -- when you got pilots together, I'm sure they have a close bond, but even now more so.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CANDIOTTI: Both pilots are planning vacations eventually. We don't have, of course, details of that, nor should we be privy to them, although we do know generally speaking that tomorrow Ronald Young will be flying home to Georgia with his parents, sisters, and brothers -- back to you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Susan, thank you so much. Look forward to that here in Georgia.

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 April 21, 2003 - 11:21   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The former American prisoners of war held by Iraq are facing more medical tests and counseling this week. The seven made an emotional return to their bases in Texas over the weekend. We have CNN correspondents at both today. We have our Ed Lavandera. He is at Fort Bliss, and Susan Candiotti is at Fort Hood.
Ed's going to start us off in West Texas.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn. Well, here it was a quiet day for the former POWs yesterday as they were able to spend time with their families and catch up. But today, they have some work to get done. Today they're beginning four -- what is expected to be about four days of medical testing, just the standard types of procedures that medical officials here at this base want these soldiers to undergo, and essentially what this is for is that since these so soldiers were POWs, they're put into what the Army calls a POW program where they will be checked up on constantly over many, many years to come. Depending on what their situation is like. So what they want to do is establish a base of conditions that they want to be able to compare notes to as they move forward in being reintegrated into Army life here in the U.S. So, those soldiers undergoing tests this morning, beginning those tests this morning at a medical center just off post here at Fort Bliss and the colonel of that hospital, who was one of the first soldiers to walk onto the C-17 plane on Saturday night to greet these soldiers and welcome them home say they are all in very good shape at this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

We not only have all these medical checkups and establishing a baseline, but we also have mental health folks involved. We have very specialized psychologists from Fort Bragg, who are experts in captivity psychology. They are helping us with this. We have our own mental health folks who are working with families to be able to help them understand the integration process back into the family, and getting used to being back home. And we're also trying to help them with the stress of being celebrities at the moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And medical officials here can't stress enough the importance of being able to handle all of this attention. Yesterday morning, we ran into Patrick Miller after he was wrapping up breakfast with his family. We just happened to eat at the same place. And he was the soldier that you saw on Saturday night, waving the American flag out of the top of the C-17 aircraft as it pulled into the tarmac at Fort Bliss, and he was looking at the newspaper stands just outside the restaurant, and he told me that when he and Joseph Hudson, the other soldier that popped out of the aircraft, when they saw that crowd, they said they had no idea that this many people were going to show up for their homecoming, and also Shoshana Johnson's best friend told us yesterday that she was amazed at just how much attention her company's unit has been getting. So this is a big adjustment for these soldiers to make -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Thank you.

Let's move east now to Fort Hood. That is where two Apache helicopter pilots are based, and bring in our Susan Candiotti -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. Pilots David Williams and Ronald Young are now spending their second full day at the base here, their home base back here at Fort Hood, and, of course, after being reunited with their families, they're trying to get their lives back to normal as best they can. There are counselors available to them, as well, if they need them.

Meantime, they're getting a lot of tender loving care from their families, a lot of hugs and embraces continue between David Williams and his wife and his relatives as well as the Young family. Of course, Kaye Young loves to give hugs to her son, and he, in return, we are told by his relatives that he can't seem to get enough of those hugs these days. And in fact, we are told that Mrs. Young gave one of her welcomed embraces to President Bush and Mrs. Bush as well as his parents. Now, Mark Young, Ron's older brother, describes what that moment was like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK YOUNG, BROTHER OF FORMER POW: Bush Jr., she grabbed him up and gave him a big hug, and which was -- and then when Bush Sr. come by, she happened to grab him up, and give him the same big hug.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Now, both families have also been getting to know each other since this ordeal ended. Of course, both pilots knew each other long before the war, and so did the immediate families, but they're getting to know each other better and better, and one of the relatives, a cousin of Dave Williams, as a matter of fact, said that he can see that the two pilots are even closer than they ever have been before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDDIE SMITH, COUSIN OF FORMER POW: You can really look in their eyes and you can see that they've got a real connection, and they probably had that before, but it's even stronger now, I'm sure, when you're -- when you got pilots together, I'm sure they have a close bond, but even now more so.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CANDIOTTI: Both pilots are planning vacations eventually. We don't have, of course, details of that, nor should we be privy to them, although we do know generally speaking that tomorrow Ronald Young will be flying home to Georgia with his parents, sisters, and brothers -- back to you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Susan, thank you so much. Look forward to that here in Georgia.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com