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Lou Dobbs Tonight

Heroes in Uniform

Aired December 24, 2007 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, we honor our heroes in uniform who are serving this country all over the world. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are stretching our military almost to the breaking point. We'll access the progress of those wars and when our troops can come home.
And we'll have some incredible stories of courage under fire. We'll introduce you to paratroopers from what may be the most decorated unit in Iraq. We'll have that and much more on our "Heroes", straight ahead tonight.

ANNOUNCER: This is a special edition LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, "Honoring Our Heroes"; sitting in for Lou Dobbs, Kitty Pilgrim.

PILGRIM: Good evening, everybody. Tonight as we celebrate this holiday season, nearly 200,000 of our troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan. This year has been the deadliest year for our troops in both conflicts, but those wars have taken very different paths. Security conditions in Iraq have improved significantly in the past six months, but in Afghanistan there are concerns the United States and NATO are losing momentum.

Jamie McIntyre reports from the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No one is declaring victory, in fact U.S. commanders are warning against excessive enthusiasm, but for the first time in a long time, there are some real positive trends in Iraq that have lasted more than just a few months. Baghdad in particular has benefited from the U.S. troop surge and U.S. commanders say they can feel the difference.

COL. JEFFREY BANNISTER, U.S. ARMY: We continue to see this progression toward normalcy, markets flourishing, kids in playgrounds, and walking to school without parents, our amusement park, extended night life, weddings, the reopening of Sunni mosques, increasing electricity, traffic, trash, the participation in local government meetings, et cetera.

(on camera): So to what extent are the positive trends we're seeing a result of the surge or is it serendipity?

STEPHEN BIDDLE, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Well the surge helped. It certainly established conditions that made this more likely, but I think an awful lot of this amounts to a combination of good luck and mistakes by our opponents. MCINTYRE (voice-over): Stephen Biddle is just back from Iraq. He has in the past provided some informal advice to U.S. commanders.

(on camera): What are the chances that by this time next year, we'll have something resembling success in Iraq?

BIDDLE: I would have estimated a year ago that the chance of getting a cease fire and then being able to police it would have been maybe one in ten, extreme long shot. I think the odds are probably still better that it will fail than it will succeed, but radically better than they would have been ten months ago.

(SHOTS)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): In Afghanistan, it is a different story. Like Iraq, it has been the deadliest year for U.S. troops serving there, but unlike Iraq, the trends in Afghanistan are not positive. The number of bomb attacks including roadside car and suicide was up 11 percent, more than 1,900 compared to just over 1,700 all of last year. In 2005, there were only 782 such attacks. According to a recent report from the nonpartisan Center for American Progress, the U.S. and its NATO allies need to redouble their efforts.

LAWRENCE KORB, CTR. FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: The prospects of success are getting less each year. We still have about a 50 percent chance of winning because unlike Iraq, the American people support it.

(on camera): The U.S. also has 37 other countries involved in Afghanistan. The problem now is to get reluctant NATO allies to come through with the troops and equipment they promised. In Iraq, the challenge will be to hold on to fragile gains while carrying out the troop cuts so many in Congress and the American public are demanding.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: Heroes come in many forms. One unit of paratroopers demonstrated extraordinary courage in one of the most dangerous provinces in Iraq. Many of those soldiers were given medals for valor including the Silver Star, but nearly two dozen of those troops did not come home.

Barbara Starr has the paratrooper story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the men of the Fifth Squadron of the 73rd Calvary Regimen, one of the smallest units in Iraq, just 440 paratroopers who spent 15 months patrolling al Qaeda strongholds in the Diyala River valley. They're perhaps the most decorated unit in Iraq, with more than 20 bronze stars and 60 commendations for valor. They also suffered some of the greatest loss, 22 dead, 95 wounded, the survivors are home now.

SPEC. JEREMIAH CHURCH, SILVER STAR RECIPIENT: I knew I had been hit right away. It was kind of like the same sensation of hitting your funny bone, it was kind of hot. I jumped down in the truck and I was screaming to my buddy give me a tourniquet. I'm bleeding.

STARR: Yet Specialist Jeremiah Church dove through a hail of enemy gunfire to get more ammunition. Specialist Andrew Harriman, a medic, ran 100 feet through enemy machine gunfire to rescue a soldier who was bleeding to death.

SPEC. ANDREW HARRIMAN, SILVER STAR RECIPIENT: I've been with a lot of these guys since you know the last four years and they're like brothers and it's, you know, I was glad that if I had to go, I was glad I went with who I did.

STARR: This is a brotherhood of men who risked their lives. Home now at Fort Bragg, North Carolina on this night, five Silver Stars are awarded. First Sergeant John Coomer exposed himself to enemy fire throwing grenades so a medic could get to a wounded soldier.

1ST SGT. JOHN COOMER, SILVER STAR RECIPIENT: (INAUDIBLE) 12, 14, 15 hours after until we really -- we had a chance to just kind of sit back on our haunches, regroup and think about what happened.

STARR: Staff Sergeant Justin Young, wounded in his neck, fought for five days before getting medical treatment. He's already looking ahead.

SGT. JUSTIN YOUNG, SILVER STAR RECIPIENT: Just coming to visit and see these men and what they think of what we've done.

STARR: Captain Steven Dobbins (ph) was hit by an IED, he crossed an open mine field to save other men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) to our fallen comrades.

STARR: Memories of those who didn't make it.

CAPT. STEPHEN DOBBINS, SILVER STAR RECIPIENT: It was tough losing them but each time we went down fighting; a lot of the guys that they were working with on the right and the left and we continued to fight to honor their sacrifice.

STARR: Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: General David Grange is one of this country's most distinguished former military commanders and a highly decorated veteran. General Grange gave us his assessment of what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Two different missions, different sets of conditions on the ground in the operational environment. Right now in Iraq, the surge are really reinforcing the coalition forces that are there have truly made a difference allowing, wants to take down of adversaries in one area, forces them to stay. In other words, to take and hold and build instead of just take and leave, so that's made quite a difference.

The training of the Iraqi military has improved considerably. The -- gaining the allies through collaboration of the Sheiks and Anbar Province. In other words, taking a previous enemy and using that enemy to help you fight another enemy, al Qaeda in this case, so a lot of improvement, but still difficult problems in the political reconciliation.

If you go to Afghanistan, a different set of problems. Still fighting insurgents, not enough troops, I don't believe and the biggest problem there is there is no real future for many of the locals, for instance if you take the poppy crops, there's no substitute, so that's a big problem. They will have to stabilize all the gains to date.

PILGRIM: General Grange, you know you bring up this issue of making allies of former enemies. A lot of emphasis is put on the surge in the actual military operations, but just as much importance on political shifts. And we've managed that very well, too, haven't we?

GRANGE: Absolutely and they're not taking light of that. The ability to establish collaborative partnerships with former enemies is very smart for us. Some say well it will backfire. It could, but I would rather fight one set of enemies or two than many. I mean you can't kill everybody. You have to work out some kind of negotiations in your process, so that's worked out very well and has become a model for other parts of Iraq.

PILGRIM: You know Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, has said, and we just heard this in a report from a reporter in Afghanistan, we do what we can in Iraq. We do what we must. Do you believe that the surge, the benefits from the surge will be long lasting?

GRANGE: Yeah, I think the benefits of the surge will be long lasting if the momentum is maintained. In other words, doctrinally you should reinforce not failures, but successes. In this case it is a success, so redeploying and not keeping enough troops there if you redeploy too rapidly, you may lose those gains, but then of course the political process is still an issue. I don't really agree with the admiral though on must and what we can. I think we must in both places. And so other efforts must be done in Afghanistan so that's successful as well.

PILGRIM: I agree entirely. If conditions in Afghanistan don't improve and if NATO fails to provide more troops, what do you see as the challenge there?

GRANGE: Well as usual in this world, the United States of America will have to step up to the plate, and provide the forces needed, which personally I believe is totally unfair and I think NATO should be more involved. If you look at just, as I said earlier, just the heroin issues that to into Europe, go into the United States that originate in Afghanistan. For no other reason then the strategic reason of the civic health of their nations they should be involved.

PILGRIM: We're talking about long deployments for our troops right now. How much longer can this go on? How much longer do you anticipate it will take before we get some sort of change in the amount of commitment that our troops have to make at this point?

GRANGE: In Iraq I think we're going to see the results come in the next year, positive results. The issue is that we're going to have to maintain troops there at least five more years, if not longer of some level. And there are things that can be done now to shape the environment to make this more successful for us. I'm not sure we're doing everything to shape the environment for that, though we're doing a lot.

The military is very tough. They can handle mission after mission. The problem is this is a married force and it's tough on the families and that's going to start eroding the ability to deploy constantly forces back and forth in this, the magnitude that we're dog now for indefinitely, indefinite period of time.

PILGRIM: And Afghanistan, quickly how long do you think that the commitment will have to be sustained?

GRANGE: In that location because of the border issues with Pakistan, I think that commitment of some kind of force, a counter insurgency force, unconventional warfare, at least a decade.

PILGRIM: All right. Thank you very much, General David Grange. Thank you, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: Still to come, a truly remarkable story of heroism under enemy fire. We'll have a special report on Medal of Honor winner Navy SEAL Michael Murphy and we'll also tell you about the extraordinary advance in combat medicine. Those medical advances enable many more of our wounded troops to recover.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PILGRIM: The Congressional Medal of Honor, it is this nation's highest award for valor by our troops. In the six years our troops have been fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, three service men have been honored with the medal, all posthumously. In Iraq, Army Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith (ph) and Marine Corporal Jason Dunham (ph) were awarded the medal for sacrificing their lives to save others. In Afghanistan, the heroic deeds of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy earned him the medal and cost him his life.

Barbara Starr has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) STARR (voice-over): June, 2005 in the 10,000-foot mountain peaks of Afghanistan's Hindu Kush, Lieutenant Michael Murphy led his four men Navy SEAL team on a mission they knew could turn deadly.

DAN MURPHY, MICHAEL MURPHY'S FATHER: He was an incredible person, honest, kind, caring, probably the antithesis of what you would consider a warrior.

MAUREEN MURPHY, MICHAEL MURPHY'S MOTHER: He was like very protective of other people and he always stuck up for the underdog.

STARR: Dan and Maureen Murphy and Michael's brother, John, now more than two years later, are receiving Michael's Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor in combat. Twenty-nine-year-old Michael and two teammates would be killed.

MARCUS LUTTRELL, PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS: He was my best friend. He was a good man. Everybody loved him.

STARR: Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell was the only man on the team to make it out. The SEALs were searching for a wanted terrorist, but they were spotted, a massive firefight broke out, it was four SEALs against more than 40 insurgents. Michael kept the men together.

LUTTRELL: He was in a horrible position. He left himself open so he could move back and forth to each individual guy. We were hurting bad. We were out of ammo.

STARR: All four men were shot, then Michael walked into the open to try to radio for help, exposing himself to enemy fire.

LUTTRELL: I looked back (INAUDIBLE) and he took two rounds to the back and sat back up, hung up the phone -- finished the transmission and hung up the phone and then he flanked left again. That was the last time I saw him.

D. MURPHY: Here is a man who has been shot in the stomach and been fighting with this wound, gets shot in the back and then still has the presence of mind to say thank you, which was Michael -- Michael was the politest person you would ever want to meet.

LUTTRELL: I didn't hear Mikey anymore. I was screaming for him. I couldn't hear -- you know I couldn't hear him anymore. All I could hear was AK fire.

M. MURPHY: When I opened the door, the chaplain was very nice. He actually came forward and I went, no, because it just -- it just, I mean my heart just dropped.

STARR: Luttrell was rescued by local Afghans.

LUTTRELL: Every time I close my eyes, I mean I close my eyes and see it and I mean I got a vision in my head right now. It was just -- it was tough out there for us and just never gave up, never gave up.

STARR: Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: When we come back, major medical advances are helping to save more of our troops wounded in battle. We'll have a report on one soldier's amazing story.

And twin brothers, making a choice to serve together in Iraq. We'll have their story.

Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Sergeant First Class (INAUDIBLE) Iraq. I would like to say hello to my beautiful son Alex and my daughter Tara in Brownsville, Maryland. Happy holidays; I love you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PILGRIM: There are many remarkable stories of survival and recovery of soldiers wounded in combat, but none perhaps as remarkable as the story of Sergeant Dan Powers. Sergeant Powers was stabbed in the head in Iraq. The knife remained lodged in his skull until military surgeons saved his life. Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has his amazing story and we do warn you, some of these images are very graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If there are average days in Iraq, July 2nd of this year started out as one for the 118th Military Police Company. Sergeant Dan Powers led his squad of 13 men to the scene of yet another explosion on the streets of Baghdad. They finished questioning the Iraqi police and were walking back to their trucks when all of a sudden...

SGT. DAN POWERS, 118TH MILITARY POLICE COMPANY: It was like bam, it was really loud and I had blood all over my armor.

COHEN: At first Powers thought he had been shot, but it was no bullet. It was this. A nine-inch knife had gone half way through his head. Another MP wrestled down the attacker and Powers kept doing his job.

(on camera): So you have a knife sticking out of your head and you're watching this guy who stabbed you.

POWERS: I was covering him with my M-4 (ph).

COHEN: So you had a knife sticking out of your head and you've got your gun aimed at this prisoner.

POWERS: (INAUDIBLE) COHEN (voice-over): Powers said he had no idea he had a knife in his head until his buddies pointed it out. After bandaging the wound, they whisked into the Green Zone and then rushed him by helicopter to a state-of-the-art military hospital 50 miles north of Baghdad. They called ahead warning a stabbing victim was on the way.

LT. COL. DR. RICHARD TEFF, NEUROSURGEON: We had no idea that it was going to be such a big shiny German knife.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our neurosurgeon is on his way down, OK.

COHEN: Lieutenant Colonel Richard Teff was one of the neurosurgeons in the operating room and you're getting a firsthand look. Here is Powers just as he arrived in the OR. Amazingly, he chatted with his doctors.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very lucky to be alive, I know that.

COHEN: But an x-ray revealed his situation was really quite dire. The knife had miraculously just missed his brain, settling in his sinus cavity, but the tip of the knife nicked his carotid artery and it was like a finger in a dike, remove it and he could bleed to death. The surgeon's only option was to slowly pull the knife out and see what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just prayed and pulled it out and frankly I was a little surprised. I didn't think it was going to bleed the way it did, but when it started bleeding we had to act quickly.

COHEN: Powers lost 40 percent of the blood in his body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the moment when I -- they call that a heart attack moment, when I was concerned that he might die right there on the table in front of us.

COHEN (on camera): But Sergeant Powers survived and he said that he owes his life to so many people, including the fast-thinking surgeon in Iraq who sent images of his injury to one of the Army's top vascular surgeons in Washington, now that surgeon was stuck in traffic on the beltway, but he pulled over, whipped out his laptop, looked at the images and guided the surgeon back in Iraq -- back to you, Kitty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: Elizabeth Cohen reporting. Thank you, Elizabeth.

Well in a story of triumph over adversity, Lieutenant Colonel Gadson is a soldier who fought to recover from his wounds. Colonel Gadson lost both his legs in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq. Now he is sharing his experience to help others in their recovery.

Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr first brought us his story last month and both Barbara Starr and Colonel Gadson join us now from Washington and thanks for being with us.

Colonel Gadson, I have to ask you. Tell us about the success you had in making your recovery.

LT. COLONEL GREG GADSON, U.S. ARMY: Well it's -- I have to attribute a lot of the success to my family, my friends, and my faith and just taking one day at a time.

PILGRIM: Barbara, during the Vietnam War, one in three soldiers died of wounds sustained on the battlefield, now we have one in seven. The improving odds are due to advances in medical technology, much like we just saw in Elizabeth Cohen's report. Give us a little bit of your insight into this new medical process that helps so many people survive.

STARR: Well you know Kitty, we hear so much about that golden hour. If a wounded soldier in the field can get medical care within an hour of being injured, there is a very good chance that they will survive and Colonel Gadson is a remarkable example of exactly that.

When I first met Colonel Gadson a couple of months ago, he was in the beginning stages I would say of his recovery. Today when he came to CNN, Colonel Gadson is coming to us wearing two prosthetic legs that are powered by Bluetooth technology. He is one of only two soldiers testing out these legs, very high tech, moving around at a pretty good clip.

Make no mistake his recovery is still -- he's facing months and months of therapy and rehabilitation. But this type of technology is certainly helping these soldiers as best they can and it is going pretty good for so many of them, get ahead with their lives.

PILGRIM: Colonel Gadson, share with us a little bit about the technology you've had the benefit of.

GADSON: The prosthetic legs are called power knees and they were designed for single, above the knee amputees and my prosthesis and physical therapist thought (INAUDIBLE) given a shot and myself and a Marine corporal are giving them a shot and we're making them work, so I think we are kind of pioneering and hopefully blazing a trail for others to try the technology also.

PILGRIM: When you saw some of the things that were available to you, were you convinced that you should try them?

GADSON: Yes, I mean I really figured I didn't have anything to lose. I mean you know the manufacturers didn't believe that you know they -- we could make them work as double, above-the-knee amputees and you know it's as simple as a matter of accepting that you would fail or not fail and so we both gave it a shot.

PILGRIM: Well you're very modest because it is a lot of hard work too, isn't it?

GADSON: It is but I mean life is hard work and you know I'd like to think that I have worked pretty hard all my life and it's just a matter of just applying yourself.

PILGRIM: You seem to have a very good grasp of the positive mental psychology that you need to overcome a serious injury. Do you believe that you're getting enough support on this mental recovery side of things?

GADSON: Absolutely, thinks are really there. There's a lot of support in the hospital, I mean a number of volunteers, you know peer volunteers from the Korean War, from the Vietnam War, people that have been through what is coming up for us, as well as the medical professionals and I know it's a high demand kind of a thing, but it is all working pretty well.

PILGRIM: Barbara, what are you hearing from other troops who come back and talk to you at the Pentagon about the support from mental recovery from wounds?

STARR: Well you know Kitty, make no mistake about it; the issue of the combat stress that the troops are suffering is a very, very serious matter. 2007 tragically is shaping up as a year in which record numbers of troops are reporting combat stress. The military is trying to do something about it, putting more effort into the field just basically to give these young troops somebody to talk to.

What we have seen so much of though this past year as we travel around, as we talk to wounded troops, as we talk to troops back from the field, back from the front line, really is the remarkable story of these young people constantly going into the line of fire, into the killing zone, right into all of it to try and save their friends when they get into trouble in a battle or in some kind of security situation.

What we've constantly seen this year, Kitty, in so many cases is a young soldier not fighting for some major political agenda in Washington but fighting for his buddy on his left, his buddy on the right and fighting to keep everyone alive so they can all come home together, Kitty.

PILGRIM: Yes, true heroes. Thanks very much, Barbara Starr and Lieutenant Colonel Greg Gadson. We wish you every success in your recovery and thank you very much for sharing your story with us this evening.

GADSON: Thank you, Kitty.

PILGRIM: Coming up, two brothers, twins, and their story of survival while serving in Iraq. We'll introduce you to a Marine lieutenant who's an ultimate fighter both on and off the battlefield.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PILGRIM: Alex and Christopher Ferrer are twin brothers from Florida who graduated from high school three years ago. They entered basic training together and then together deployed to Iraq with the Marine Corps. The twins were each wounded in battle. One was shot, one survived a suicide bomb attack. Casey Wian has the story of two brothers in arms.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LANCE CPL CHRISTOPHER FERRER, US MARINE CORPS: Nothing could have prepared us for what we experienced out there.

LANCE CPL ALEX FERRER, US MARINE CORPS: We encountered IEDS. We encountered fire fights on a daily basis. And I would go out on eight patrols almost every day, for seven and a half months.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Christopher and Alex Ferrer, identical twins, shared lives, high school, enlisting in the Marines and then a deployment to Iraq.

C. FERRER: My twin brother would go out as I was coming in, so we would never be out at the same time.

A. FERRER: Having a brother out there was tough and also it was awesome too. Every day we would see each other at least an hour at a time or two hours at a time. And we got to talk to each other and get stuff off our minds. So basically we kind of decompressed ourselves while we were over in Iraq.

WIAN: During their employment, they each survived separate insurgent attacks.

A. FERRER: I took shrapnel from a bullet to the inside of my right thigh.

WIAN: Christopher heard the news from a fellow Marine.

C. FERRER: I remember one guy was like, hey your brother, did you hear? I'm like, oh god, what? He was like, oh he got shot. So there goes the tear and the heart throbbing. Oh my god, where we he shot? How bad is it?

WIAN: Fortunately, it was not serious and Alex was back on patrol within days. Months later, Christopher's humvee was attacked by a suicide bomber.

C. FERRER: I connected eyes with this guy and right then and there, I knew exactly what it was going be. And it was one of my biggest fears out there, was getting hit by a bomb.

WIAN: The Ferrer luck would again prevail. Christopher escaped with just a concussion. For these brothers in arms, the title hero does not sit comfortably.

C. FERRER: It's not what I'm searching for. You know, I like the whole power military. Very structured, disciplined lifestyle, you know. Helping people out is very gratifying to both of us.

WIAN: Both brothers received the Purple Heart for their service. Casey Wian, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: Well Marine Lieutenant Brian Stann was awarded the Silver Star for bravery under fire in Iraq. Lieutenant Stann says he keeps his skills sharp for the fight on the battlefield by fighting in the ring. Bill Tucker reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fighting pride of the United States Marine Corps.

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marine Lieutenant Brian Stann is a professional fighter, undefeated in the ring. And after 9/11, he was determined to bring defeat to the enemy on the battlefield.

LT. BRIAN STANN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: It was a fight I wanted in. I absolutely wanted in. I felt like that was my duty, that's where I belonged.

TUCKER: February 2005 he deployed to Iraq as a platoon commander, leading as many as 80 men. The first two months were quiet.

STANN: Day-to-day there, it could be anything from quick reaction force, searching homes, maybe doing civil affairs operations or doing actually offensive raids trying to get into enemy targets.

TUCKER: In May, things changed almost overnight when Brian and his men were attempting to seize a bridge near Karbala.

STANN: The third time moving north towards the bridge, we encountered a pretty large ambush. It was layered with numerous enemy cell positions, improvised explosive device sin the road and then numerous suicide vehicles as well.

TUCKER: Brian and his men were engaged in a continuous fight for six days.

STANN: We did take some casualties. We had a vehicle destroyed, we had a tank destroyed. There were very, very serious injuries sustained, we're fortunate that all those rangers are still here with us today.

TUCKER: Stann led 42 men into battle that day and he led all 42 out safely.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I appreciate the service of people like Marine First Lieutenant Brian Stan, a former Navy linebacker who was awarded the Silver Star last month for his actions and his bravery in Iraq.

TUCKER: Stann also served a second tour in Iraq last year. He's currently a commanding officer in Camp Lejeune. He's also a professional mixed marshal arts fighter.

STANN: I got into the sport to help me better prepare me to lead men in combat. It continues to help me to this day.

TUCKER: Stann has five professional fights, all knockouts. So what's next?

STANN: It's just lead the marines, take care of my family and continue to compete.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCKER: Lieutenant Stann's family is his wife and for now one kid. They live in North Carolina and call Camp Lejeune home. And Kitty he has no plans to leave the military, at least not any time soon.

PILGRIM: That's what you call a real leader. Thanks very much, Bill Tucker.

Still ahead, a drill sergeant who uses his front-line experience to prepare Marines for battle. And we remember the first West Point female graduate to be killed in Iraq. Those stories, a lot more when we come back, so stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, I'm Sergeant Gibson (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm Sergeant McCullough (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we're engaged. Seasons greetings to all our friends and family in Cleveland, Ohio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Happy holidays.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PILGRIM: Tonight we are honoring the hundreds of thousands of men and women who serve this country around the world. Second lieutenant Emily Perez decided at an early age to dedicate herself to being a soldier. She was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What her family remembers most about Second Lieutenant Emily Perez is her smile. Her parents now mourn the little girl who became for a short while a young commander leading troops in Iraq.

VICKI PEREZ, MOTHER OF FALLEN SOLDIER: When she was a little girl, she wanted to be a nun and I told her Emily, we're Baptist, you can't be a nun.

STARR: Last month, 23-year-old Emily became the first West Point female graduate to die in Iraq when her convoy was hit by a roadside bomb. She was bringing medical supplies to field units.

Emily entered West Point shortly before the 9/11 attacks, quickly rising to a leadership role inside the competitive cadet corps. She never planned to go to West Point, but after visiting during high school, her parents say she was hooked.

V. PEREZ: When people would say, well what's your second choice? She would say I'm going west point. And I would say, well Emily, you know - no ma, I'm going. And she didn't apply to any other college.

STARR: After Emily went to Iraq, her mother never stopped worrying.

V. PEREZ: I would wake up in the middle of the night, send e- mails to her when I heard the news. And she would call. One morning, as a matter of fact, I sent one, "Answer me ASAP." And about two hours later, the phone called later. "Mom, you need to quit looking at the news."

STARR: The young soldier who ran track and started an AIDS ministry at her Baptist church became one of more than 50 military women who have died in Iraq. Technically, the U.S. still does not allow women to serve in front line combat position. Her father Daniel, a former soldier himself has no doubt his daughter was on the front line.

DANIEL PEREZ, FATHER OF FALLEN SOLDIER: Emily was one, she always led from the front. Her thing was I'm going to be in the lead vehicle because these are my soldiers and I have to bring them back home safe.

STARR: Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: Air Force staff sergeant Kimberly Mahan's job is to disarm the kind of roadside bomb that killed Lieutenant Perez. Sergeant Mahan puts herself in danger to save others lives. She was awarded the Bronze Star for exceptional service. Phillippa Holland has her story.

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PHILLIPPA HOLLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly 70 percent of American troops killed in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom have died in insurgent IED attacks like this, more than 1,900 fatalities. Sergeant Kimberly Mahan, an Air Force explosive ordinate disposal team leader knows that danger all too well. Mahan executed more than 30 combat missions to diffuse or destroy IEDs and weapons caches during her 2006 deployment to Iraq. She was awarded a Bronze Star for her exceptional service.

STAFF SGT. KIMBERLY MAHAN, U.S. AIR FORCE: We removed or disposed of roughly 35,000 pieces of ordnance, basically keeping it out of the hands of people that would make an IED with it. They're definitely unstable. You look at it funny, and it might go off. HOLLAND: As her second deployment nears, Mahan stays sharp by instructing junior members of her team how to operate a bomb disposal robot and the proper use of a protective bomb suit and helmet.

MAHAN: I get called crazy a lot. But I guess most of us are just confident, keep our cool when it's the pressure is on. We're actually pretty laid back in general, so I guess this is where my excitement gets to come in. It's always nice to think that you're saving someone else's life. When you're over there, you're just in your frame of mind, you're doing your job.

HOLLAND: Despite the intense pressure and the searing desert heat she knows she'll soon face, Staff Sergeant Mahan is enthusiastic about her mission.

MAHAN: The best part about being EOD is knowing you could come to work and blow something up. That's what all of us really love about the job.

HOLLAND: That attitude helped to ensure the safety of coalition forces, contractors and civilians, in and around the lot during her deployment. Phillippa Holland, CNN.

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PILGRIM: Still ahead, an army lieutenant who displayed selfless courage under fire as he tried to save a wounded comrade.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is senior airman Green (ph) from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I'd like to give a shout out to my family and friends back at home in Columbus, Ohio

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PILGRIM: Our next hero put the lives of his men before his own during a fire fight in Afghanistan and was awarded the Navy Cross for his bravery. Marine Staff Sergeant Anthony Viggiani is a drill instructor at Parris Island and he uses his front-line experience to prepare his Marines for battle. Bill Tucker reports.

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TUCKER (voice-over): 0700 hours, basic warrior training for India Company, 3rd battalion, Parris Island Marine Recruit Depot.

Staff Sergeant Anthony Viggiani commands a platoon of newly enlisted recruits for three months of boot camp. As senior drill instructor he trains and instills discipline with his stern face and a sharp tone.

The recruits know very little about Viggiani by design. How he protected Presidents Bush and Clinton at Camp David or the details of his seven-month tour in Afghanistan where while on patrol in the Zabul Province in June of 2004, his actions earned him the Navy Cross.

ANTHONY VIGGIANI, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Rough terrain. I'm just pretty much going through, started hearing machine gunfire. We all hit the deck. And everybody took cover.

TUCKER: But another one of his teams was pinned down by enemy fire. So Viggiani scrambled across exposed ground to take out its source.

VIGGIANI: Started screaming down the mountain, I mean hauling. My rifle was in my right hand and frag grenade in my left.

TUCKER: He reached the cave where he believed the insurgents were hiding.

VIGGIANI: Fired about three rounds, I saw skin. Fired three or four more rounds. Pulled the pin and I dropped it right in the hole.

TUCKER: in the hour-long fire fight, Viggiani's company took out more than a dozen enemy fighters, a ricochet hit him in the knee, but he refused treatment until he knew his men were all right.

VIGGIANI: I made a promise that they're going to come home. Doesn't matter what the case may be. From me, I made that promise and it's going to happen.

TUCKER: For his heroism, Staff Sergeant Viggiani was awarded the Navy Cross during a graduation ceremony at Parris Island last year. During the course of the three-month training, Viggiani eventually reveals a little of his story to the recruits in the hope that he inspires them.

VIGGIANI: They think they're tired, they think they're hot, they think they're thirsty, they think they're hungry. We're operating in 134 degrees in the shade. Over 10,000 feet above sea level. You know, I just tell them what you see in the movies, it's not even close.

TUCKER: Bill Tucker, CNN.

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PILGRIM: Many of our heroes were wounded while trying to save their fellow troops. Lieutenant Walter Bryan Jackson was awarded the distinguished service cross for risking his own life to save the lives of his brothers in arms. Barbara Starr has his story.

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CAPT. ERIC STAINBROOK, WOUNDED IRAQ VETERAN: I really thought I was going to pass away. I was in a lot of blood. And here was Lieutenant Jackson overtop of me. I thought he was going to be the last person I saw alive.

MASTER SGT. DAVID SAPP, WOUNDED IRAQ VETERAN: I'm lying on the ground, in and out of consciousness. And Lieutenant Jackson came running to go my aid, started administering first aid and firing at the enemy to get them to redirect their fire away from me. BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Two soldiers gravely wounded, reunited with Lieutenant Walter Bryan Jackson, the officer who risked his own life and was wounded himself trying to save them.

LT. WALTER BRYAN JACKSON, IRAQ WAR HERO: And I thought to myself, this is not the way I want to go out, you know, because I'm laying there prepared to die, essentially.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president of the United States of America has awarded the Distinguished Service Cross to Second Lieutenant Walter B. Jackson.

STARR: Jackson has received the Distinguished Service Cross for what the army says is extraordinary heroism in Anbar Province in September 2006. There is an unshakable bond amongst three men who thought they would die together on an Iraqi street.

JACKSON: Basically, I was thinking those two guys were the last two people I would see, so I was going to do whatever I could to help them out. So I shot as much as I could until I was out of ammunition. Then I went to reload and I didn't have the strength left to put that magazine back in the weapon.

STARR: Jackson refused medical treatment until his men were safe.

JACKSON: I knew I was wounded, but there were more important things to worry about, like the two guys with me that were much worse off.

STARR: The Distinguished Service Cross he now wears is the nation's second highest award for heroism in action. But these three combat veterans say it was surviving together that is the most important thing.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

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PILGRIM: Joining the army is a tradition for the Collins family of Hot Springs, Arkansas. And tonight, we introduce you to first Lieutenant George Collins of the Arkansas National Guard. Lieutenant Collins' father, grandfather and generations before all served in the army. Lieutenant Collins proudly served in Iraq and was awarded with a bronze star for valor for her service. Phillippa Holland reports.

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HOLLAND (voice-over): Homecoming, Platoon Leader Lieutenant George Collins has two families. Today, he's saying good- bye to his army family and joining the family he's been dreaming about for the last year.

LT. GEORGE COLLINS, ARKANSAS ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: You wait so long to see somebody that you know, dreamed about and you wanted to see and it's just the happiness and peacefulness that you forget about once you're over there. HOLLAND: November 27, 2006, was the night Collins and his alpha company won't ever forget.

COLLINS: We were in a mission looking for IEDs. There was a convoy behind us and they were taking extremely large amounts of fire, so I turned our patrol around and we went back and looked at it and we jumped lanes and pretty much blocked off the traffic that was coming towards us. They were in a heavy ambush, so we blocked the enemy fire against the coalition forces and got them to change lanes and get out of the area.

HOLLAND: Collins was awarded the bronze star with valor. He says he was just doing his job.

COLLINS: That's the number one killer of coalition forces. That to me, takes bravery. That doesn't make us heroes. Eric Smallwood was a hero, not us. That was just our jobs.

HOLLAND: Sergeant Eric S. Smallwood was recognized posthumously. Smallwood died when an IED detonated near his vehicle during a route clearance patrol.

Collins' father is a Vietnam vet and serving in the army goes back generations.

COLLINS: Just as far as we can go back, somebody in my family has been in the army and you know, there are times when I get discouraged, you know, with conflicts of interest and that sort of thing, but when I put on the uniform it just makes me proud to know that I'm part of this tradition.

HOLLAND: But for now, Collins is putting away his uniform. He's just glad to be home.

COLLINS: Looking forward to not having to wear armor every day. I'm looking forward to not having to worry about if something will explode on the side of the road. I'm looking forward to waking up next to my wife every morning.

HOLLAND: And this family is more than happy to have him back.

Phillippa Holland, CNN.

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PILGRIM: We'll have much more straight ahead on "Heroes," our special tribute to our troops.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, I'm Staff Sergeant Len Martins (ph), stationed here at LSA Anaconda. I'd like to give a shout out to my family at Monticello, Arkansas. Happy holidays, I miss you and I love you.

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PILGRIM: Finally tonight, there is one thing that each and every hero tells us. None of them wants to be called a hero. Not despite heroic actions that humble us all, they all say they're simply doing their job. So now we take a moment to hear from these remarkable men and women, what their service to this country means to them.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think heroes are people who have supernatural strengths and abilities. Heroes are normal people who make extraordinary decisions every day of their lives.

SGT. MARK CAMP, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I think I'm definitely a flawed person, but a better person than I was going in.

CWO CHRISTIAN BECK, U.S. ARMY: I don't feel like I did anything above and beyond what any of my other fellow co-pilots or pilots or medics or anybody yin the unit would go out and do. The biggest reward that we receive is getting those soldiers off the battlefield.

STAFF SGT. CHRIS BAIN, U.S. ARMY: I'm supposed to put my life in danger for them because they would do it for me. That's why we call it banded brothers. That's why we're brothers and sisters. We're a family.

MAJOR JASON AMERINE, U.S. ARMY: For me, the military is a calling. I have loved every moment of it.

SGT. JAMES WRIGHT, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I always wanted to be a Marine as far back as I can remember.

AIRMAN 1ST CLASS BRANDON BYERS, U.S. AIR FORCE: I'm proud to be able to say that I was over there. And when I was over there, I felt a sense of pride knowing that I was protecting my family and my friends.

CAPT. COLIN CREMIN, U.S. ARMY: Deep down inside, I always knew the military was what I wanted to do. The discipline of it, the camaraderie, and I just wanted to give it a shot.

SPC. MAXWELL RAMSEY, U.S. ARMY: It reaffirmed that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. I don't know if I actually was able to live that fully before my experience in the army.

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PILGRIM: We thank you all of our men and women serving this country in uniform all around the world. And we wish them all a safe and speedy return home. Thanks for being with us tonight. Have a wonderful holiday. Good night from New York.

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