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CNN Live Today

Some Comfort Crew Return to Bethesda, Maryland

Aired April 30, 2003 - 11:11   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We've been watching as doctors and nurses and other medical personnel who have been serving their country. They are beginning to arrive home. Those who have been serving on board the USS Comfort, that Naval hospital ship now arriving in Bethesda Naval Hospital -- or Bethesda, Maryland.
And our Kathleen Koch, we believe, is somewhere out there in the crowd. Kathleen, can you hear me?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Leon, I can hear you. And I tell you, if you had talked to me a couple of minutes ago, it would have been very difficult to hear you over the screams and cheers. We've got about six buses that have now pulled in. These are doctors, nurses, medical corpsmen. They have been deployed on the USNS Comfort in the Arabian Sea since early March.

Now, when you compare that to some of the other service members over there, maybe two months isn't a long time. But there are also folks who left early with the ship. The Comfort pulled out of the port of Baltimore back around January 6, so there are some folks who have been gone about four months.

Therefore, you have some fathers on these buses who have brand new babies that they haven't seen, and they are going to be meeting them in the flesh today.

Here comes another busload. And, Leon, I don't know if our cameras can pan around. You can see the flags and the crowds. People are so excited.

HARRIS: Kathleen, let me ask you this. This is in front of the hospital? This is nowhere near the docks, correct?

KOCH: Correct. The boat -- the ship itself, the USNS Comfort is still in the Arabian Sea, Leon. They have about 100 patients still on board, about 96 of them are Iraqis, both civilians and prisoners of war. So they have kept about half the staff on board to care for those patients, but they brought back about 430 medical personnel because they really do need them here, back in Bethesda. You know, they have patients to care for here, and they've got about 21 patients who were injured in the Iraq war who have been admitted here at the hospital.

Now, you can see these great scenes, the hugging, the embracing. The good news is these folks get 96 hours of liberty, and they're going to be really enjoying that. The cheers are just overwhelming, Leon. Then it's going to be back to work for them. HARRIS: Back to work meaning what? Back to work at the hospital?

KOCH: Back to work at the hospital. When they were out on the ship, they were very busy. It's a 1,000-bed hospital, ten decks. They were equipped for quite a lot of injuries, but luckily they didn't have that many. They treated about 600 wounded during the duration of the war, both U.S. service members, coalition service members, Iraqis. And -- but again, they were very relieved that they didn't really deal with the numbers that they were equipped to. This -- it's really a level three trauma hospital, floating trauma hospital. And the last time, Leon, that they deployed in any great numbers was back during 9/11. They went up to New York City to help care for injured there. But, sadly there were not a lot of survivors there that they were able to help -- Leon.

HARRIS: Were you able to talk with any of these waiting family members before the buses drove up?

KOCH: We did indeed. Actually, there's one standing here with me, and she can talk with us as the cameras keep following -- the cameras keep following live what's going on here, Leon. Felicia Plunkett (ph), her fiance is on one of these buses. I'll let her talk as we continue watching the live pictures. Felicia (ph), why don't you tell us about who you're waiting...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm waiting for MS-3 David Cargo (ph).

KOCH: And this is your fiance. You are holding in your arms one of two twin baby boys who were born while he was gone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. They were born on March 1. He left January 5 -- 6.

KOCH: I understand he was able to meet them, though, via satellite.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. We got to see him a couple days after they were born. He got to see them on -- via satellite. And then -- we always e-mail back and forth. I always e-mail pictures every week. So...

KOCH: Well, Felicia (ph), you know, we have six buses that have pulled in. You don't know if he's on one of these buses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know where exactly he is. I'm trying to find him.

KOCH: Well, we're going to step up here to some of the other families who are meeting and greeting right now. Sure. OK. Well, let's go ahead and -- you're waiting for someone here. Who are you waiting for?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm actually waiting for my boyfriend, Tim.

KOCH: How long has he been away? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two months.

KOCH: What does he do here at Bethesda Naval?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He works in the blood bank, in the transfusion services.

KOCH: Did he talk with you much about his -- his time on the ship, about any of the operations, anything they went through there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. He actually couldn't say much. All he could say was that things were busy -- or he would tell me when it was slowing down, or it was getting busier, but he couldn't say exactly...

KOCH: There is Felicia (ph) -- here is Felicia and the daddy seeing his new children for the very first time. This is David Cargo meeting his new twin sons Elijah and Xavier (ph). They were born March 1 while he was at sea. David, how does this feel right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't even know what to say, really. How you doing, buddy?

KOCH: Felicia (ph), it's been four long months. You're happy to have him back, I guess?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very happy.

KOCH: So what's the first thing you're going to be doing with these bouncing baby boys? You have 96 hours of leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take some time to get to know them now. Take some time to get to know them. This is Xavier? Look at this guy.

KOCH: So, mom, what's the first thing you're going to be teaching him? How to change diapers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How to change diapers. Yes. How to change diapers.

KOCH: Dad, tell us about how you met them via satellite.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was nice. Talking about the via satellite when I got to see them? It was real nice. Nice to see that technology finally has allowed us to see, you know, what was really going on. It was cool. The TV's real big. I got to see them for the first time. I got to say hello. I mean, it was really nice. Really nice. I think every ship should have one.

KOCH: What kind of a sacrifice was it, though, to have to leave your pregnant fiancee and miss the birth of your twin sons?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was tough. It really was. It was tough at first, but I guess there is a job that has to be done. So to ensure that both my sons can walk and be free, and everything be OK with them, then I guess it's OK. KOCH: Now, you had sort of a tough job on the ship. You had 1,100 hungry people. You are one of the cooks. Tell us about what you did on board?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, at first it was three meals a day, you know, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Tough. Then we got night crew on board, and more people, so it was just lunch and dinner. But it was hard, though. It's a lot of work. A lot of beef stew and chuck wagon stew, and about a million grilled cheese sandwiches. You know what I mean? It is a lot of stuff to cook. Cooking is tough. Cooking is tough.

KOCH: What was it like going through the birth without your fiance there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was hard. It was real hard. I went through three hours and 45 minutes of straight pushing, so -- I mean -- luckily I had my friend, his friend's wife with me, and she was in the delivery room with me. So she was pushing right along with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show us the babies, and tell us about them and...

KOCH: All right. We're going to hear a little bit more from them about the babies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Elijah, and that's Xavier.

KOCH: And we're going to be saying good-bye to Elijah and Xavier right now, Leon, and tossing it back to you. These wonderful, joyous scenes are going to be continuing. We're waiting for six more buses to arrive here soon in Bethesda -- back to you.

HARRIS: Kathleen, I can tell you from personal experience there's nothing like the moment when a man holds his newborn son, but to be in this young man's position, to come home after successfully participating in the successful end of a war, to come home and then hold two twin boys, I can understand why this man would be hard pressed to find the words to describe how he must be feeling. And folks, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

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 30, 2003 - 11:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We've been watching as doctors and nurses and other medical personnel who have been serving their country. They are beginning to arrive home. Those who have been serving on board the USS Comfort, that Naval hospital ship now arriving in Bethesda Naval Hospital -- or Bethesda, Maryland.
And our Kathleen Koch, we believe, is somewhere out there in the crowd. Kathleen, can you hear me?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Leon, I can hear you. And I tell you, if you had talked to me a couple of minutes ago, it would have been very difficult to hear you over the screams and cheers. We've got about six buses that have now pulled in. These are doctors, nurses, medical corpsmen. They have been deployed on the USNS Comfort in the Arabian Sea since early March.

Now, when you compare that to some of the other service members over there, maybe two months isn't a long time. But there are also folks who left early with the ship. The Comfort pulled out of the port of Baltimore back around January 6, so there are some folks who have been gone about four months.

Therefore, you have some fathers on these buses who have brand new babies that they haven't seen, and they are going to be meeting them in the flesh today.

Here comes another busload. And, Leon, I don't know if our cameras can pan around. You can see the flags and the crowds. People are so excited.

HARRIS: Kathleen, let me ask you this. This is in front of the hospital? This is nowhere near the docks, correct?

KOCH: Correct. The boat -- the ship itself, the USNS Comfort is still in the Arabian Sea, Leon. They have about 100 patients still on board, about 96 of them are Iraqis, both civilians and prisoners of war. So they have kept about half the staff on board to care for those patients, but they brought back about 430 medical personnel because they really do need them here, back in Bethesda. You know, they have patients to care for here, and they've got about 21 patients who were injured in the Iraq war who have been admitted here at the hospital.

Now, you can see these great scenes, the hugging, the embracing. The good news is these folks get 96 hours of liberty, and they're going to be really enjoying that. The cheers are just overwhelming, Leon. Then it's going to be back to work for them. HARRIS: Back to work meaning what? Back to work at the hospital?

KOCH: Back to work at the hospital. When they were out on the ship, they were very busy. It's a 1,000-bed hospital, ten decks. They were equipped for quite a lot of injuries, but luckily they didn't have that many. They treated about 600 wounded during the duration of the war, both U.S. service members, coalition service members, Iraqis. And -- but again, they were very relieved that they didn't really deal with the numbers that they were equipped to. This -- it's really a level three trauma hospital, floating trauma hospital. And the last time, Leon, that they deployed in any great numbers was back during 9/11. They went up to New York City to help care for injured there. But, sadly there were not a lot of survivors there that they were able to help -- Leon.

HARRIS: Were you able to talk with any of these waiting family members before the buses drove up?

KOCH: We did indeed. Actually, there's one standing here with me, and she can talk with us as the cameras keep following -- the cameras keep following live what's going on here, Leon. Felicia Plunkett (ph), her fiance is on one of these buses. I'll let her talk as we continue watching the live pictures. Felicia (ph), why don't you tell us about who you're waiting...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm waiting for MS-3 David Cargo (ph).

KOCH: And this is your fiance. You are holding in your arms one of two twin baby boys who were born while he was gone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. They were born on March 1. He left January 5 -- 6.

KOCH: I understand he was able to meet them, though, via satellite.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. We got to see him a couple days after they were born. He got to see them on -- via satellite. And then -- we always e-mail back and forth. I always e-mail pictures every week. So...

KOCH: Well, Felicia (ph), you know, we have six buses that have pulled in. You don't know if he's on one of these buses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know where exactly he is. I'm trying to find him.

KOCH: Well, we're going to step up here to some of the other families who are meeting and greeting right now. Sure. OK. Well, let's go ahead and -- you're waiting for someone here. Who are you waiting for?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm actually waiting for my boyfriend, Tim.

KOCH: How long has he been away? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two months.

KOCH: What does he do here at Bethesda Naval?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He works in the blood bank, in the transfusion services.

KOCH: Did he talk with you much about his -- his time on the ship, about any of the operations, anything they went through there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. He actually couldn't say much. All he could say was that things were busy -- or he would tell me when it was slowing down, or it was getting busier, but he couldn't say exactly...

KOCH: There is Felicia (ph) -- here is Felicia and the daddy seeing his new children for the very first time. This is David Cargo meeting his new twin sons Elijah and Xavier (ph). They were born March 1 while he was at sea. David, how does this feel right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't even know what to say, really. How you doing, buddy?

KOCH: Felicia (ph), it's been four long months. You're happy to have him back, I guess?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very happy.

KOCH: So what's the first thing you're going to be doing with these bouncing baby boys? You have 96 hours of leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take some time to get to know them now. Take some time to get to know them. This is Xavier? Look at this guy.

KOCH: So, mom, what's the first thing you're going to be teaching him? How to change diapers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How to change diapers. Yes. How to change diapers.

KOCH: Dad, tell us about how you met them via satellite.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was nice. Talking about the via satellite when I got to see them? It was real nice. Nice to see that technology finally has allowed us to see, you know, what was really going on. It was cool. The TV's real big. I got to see them for the first time. I got to say hello. I mean, it was really nice. Really nice. I think every ship should have one.

KOCH: What kind of a sacrifice was it, though, to have to leave your pregnant fiancee and miss the birth of your twin sons?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was tough. It really was. It was tough at first, but I guess there is a job that has to be done. So to ensure that both my sons can walk and be free, and everything be OK with them, then I guess it's OK. KOCH: Now, you had sort of a tough job on the ship. You had 1,100 hungry people. You are one of the cooks. Tell us about what you did on board?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, at first it was three meals a day, you know, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Tough. Then we got night crew on board, and more people, so it was just lunch and dinner. But it was hard, though. It's a lot of work. A lot of beef stew and chuck wagon stew, and about a million grilled cheese sandwiches. You know what I mean? It is a lot of stuff to cook. Cooking is tough. Cooking is tough.

KOCH: What was it like going through the birth without your fiance there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was hard. It was real hard. I went through three hours and 45 minutes of straight pushing, so -- I mean -- luckily I had my friend, his friend's wife with me, and she was in the delivery room with me. So she was pushing right along with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show us the babies, and tell us about them and...

KOCH: All right. We're going to hear a little bit more from them about the babies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Elijah, and that's Xavier.

KOCH: And we're going to be saying good-bye to Elijah and Xavier right now, Leon, and tossing it back to you. These wonderful, joyous scenes are going to be continuing. We're waiting for six more buses to arrive here soon in Bethesda -- back to you.

HARRIS: Kathleen, I can tell you from personal experience there's nothing like the moment when a man holds his newborn son, but to be in this young man's position, to come home after successfully participating in the successful end of a war, to come home and then hold two twin boys, I can understand why this man would be hard pressed to find the words to describe how he must be feeling. And folks, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

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