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CNN Live Today

Father & Son Reunion

Aired December 26, 2003 - 11:41   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is a remarkable holiday season for one father and son in particular. They're reunited after 58 years apart, and it happened thanks to the Internet.
Bill Yawn (ph) is now 87. His son, Bill Treacy, is 60. And they join us this morning from St. Louis.

Good to see both of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello.

WHITFIELD: Hello, this is Fredricka -- can you hear me OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.

WHITFIELD: Let's go back 58 years ago when you guys were separated. Bill Sr., you and your wife split up, and she took your son, Billy, and said you will never see Billy again. So was it your belief that over the years, you might never see him again, or were you going to try to make an effort to find him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.

WHITFIELD: Well, describe for me how difficult it was to go through the years getting that warning from your ex-wife that you wouldn't be seeing your son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I don't know.

WHITFIELD: It was quite tough, I understand, and...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: And so there were so many efforts. The family came together, from looking in the phone book, et cetera, doing all kinds of searches to see if there was some way in which they could help reunite you with your son, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Yes. So, Billy, during all of this time, I'm not sure all the stories that you may have received, but did you know that the bottom line from your mom was that you were not going to be reunited or see your dad ever again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I never did. She just never talked about it.

WHITFIELD: So what were you thinking as a kid, where was your dad? Why were you being separated?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I really don't know, because every time I tried to talk to her, she wouldn't want to say nothing, so all the years go by, I just kept letting it go by, and not saying no more.

WHITFIELD: And then fast forward now 58 years. Apparently a family member had the, you know, fortitude to look on the Internet, try and do some searches, plug in a few names, and lo and behold, on behalf of your dad, was able to find your name and then come to find out, you all geographically really weren't that far apart, were you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, just probably about 1,400 miles.

WHITFIELD: Unbelievable, and we're looking at some pictures now of pictures when you were younger, and then pictures when you were reunited most recently. What an incredible Christmas this must have been for both of you, and particularly for your dad, given he just had his 60th birthday earlier this month, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just had a birthday, I was 60 years old.

WHITFIELD: Oh you, I'm sorry, you just had your 60th birthday. What an incredible birthday gift for you.

BILL TREACY, REUNITED WITH FATHER: Yes, ma'am, it was something else. It's hard to believe.

WHITFIELD: What has catching up been like for you all?

TREACY: Too much time, or not enough time, and it's just really hard to think, you know, just trying to keep whenever I'm going to get back here or not.

WHITFIELD: And as you guys are catching up, are you finding there are an awful lot of similar interests that you've had over the years, and lo and behold, after all these years pasts, years apart, miles apart, come to find out you've got some real common denominators?

TREACY: Oh, yes, a lot of people say we walk a lot and even kind of talk a lot the same.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And now what about the bringing of the families together? It doesn't just involve you and your dad, Billy, but really an extended family. How has that been like for everybody?

TREACY: Well, I don't know. To me, it's been, you know, still a shock and then everybody else has just treated me like we've known each other all our lives, but we haven't really seen each other.

WHITFIELD: And so what kind of catching up have you been able to do in catching up with your dad?

TREACY: Well, we just hang around the house, you know, being so cold out here now, not much to get around, and we've gone to other places out to eat and stuff, and buying things together for now.

WHITFIELD: Wow, well what a wonderful story of being reunited once again. Congratulations. And I'm sure you all are thanking your family members who were able to pull their resources together to help get you all together and make sure that you were able to enjoy a great birthday and a terrific holiday as well. Bill Yawn and Bill Treacy, thanks very much for joining us, and best of wishes to you all, as you've been reunited again after all of these years, 58 years.

TREACY: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, take care.

TREACY: Bye-bye.

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 December 26, 2003 - 11:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is a remarkable holiday season for one father and son in particular. They're reunited after 58 years apart, and it happened thanks to the Internet.
Bill Yawn (ph) is now 87. His son, Bill Treacy, is 60. And they join us this morning from St. Louis.

Good to see both of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello.

WHITFIELD: Hello, this is Fredricka -- can you hear me OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.

WHITFIELD: Let's go back 58 years ago when you guys were separated. Bill Sr., you and your wife split up, and she took your son, Billy, and said you will never see Billy again. So was it your belief that over the years, you might never see him again, or were you going to try to make an effort to find him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.

WHITFIELD: Well, describe for me how difficult it was to go through the years getting that warning from your ex-wife that you wouldn't be seeing your son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I don't know.

WHITFIELD: It was quite tough, I understand, and...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: And so there were so many efforts. The family came together, from looking in the phone book, et cetera, doing all kinds of searches to see if there was some way in which they could help reunite you with your son, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Yes. So, Billy, during all of this time, I'm not sure all the stories that you may have received, but did you know that the bottom line from your mom was that you were not going to be reunited or see your dad ever again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I never did. She just never talked about it.

WHITFIELD: So what were you thinking as a kid, where was your dad? Why were you being separated?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I really don't know, because every time I tried to talk to her, she wouldn't want to say nothing, so all the years go by, I just kept letting it go by, and not saying no more.

WHITFIELD: And then fast forward now 58 years. Apparently a family member had the, you know, fortitude to look on the Internet, try and do some searches, plug in a few names, and lo and behold, on behalf of your dad, was able to find your name and then come to find out, you all geographically really weren't that far apart, were you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, just probably about 1,400 miles.

WHITFIELD: Unbelievable, and we're looking at some pictures now of pictures when you were younger, and then pictures when you were reunited most recently. What an incredible Christmas this must have been for both of you, and particularly for your dad, given he just had his 60th birthday earlier this month, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just had a birthday, I was 60 years old.

WHITFIELD: Oh you, I'm sorry, you just had your 60th birthday. What an incredible birthday gift for you.

BILL TREACY, REUNITED WITH FATHER: Yes, ma'am, it was something else. It's hard to believe.

WHITFIELD: What has catching up been like for you all?

TREACY: Too much time, or not enough time, and it's just really hard to think, you know, just trying to keep whenever I'm going to get back here or not.

WHITFIELD: And as you guys are catching up, are you finding there are an awful lot of similar interests that you've had over the years, and lo and behold, after all these years pasts, years apart, miles apart, come to find out you've got some real common denominators?

TREACY: Oh, yes, a lot of people say we walk a lot and even kind of talk a lot the same.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And now what about the bringing of the families together? It doesn't just involve you and your dad, Billy, but really an extended family. How has that been like for everybody?

TREACY: Well, I don't know. To me, it's been, you know, still a shock and then everybody else has just treated me like we've known each other all our lives, but we haven't really seen each other.

WHITFIELD: And so what kind of catching up have you been able to do in catching up with your dad?

TREACY: Well, we just hang around the house, you know, being so cold out here now, not much to get around, and we've gone to other places out to eat and stuff, and buying things together for now.

WHITFIELD: Wow, well what a wonderful story of being reunited once again. Congratulations. And I'm sure you all are thanking your family members who were able to pull their resources together to help get you all together and make sure that you were able to enjoy a great birthday and a terrific holiday as well. Bill Yawn and Bill Treacy, thanks very much for joining us, and best of wishes to you all, as you've been reunited again after all of these years, 58 years.

TREACY: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, take care.

TREACY: Bye-bye.

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