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CNN Live Saturday

USS Paul Hamilton Docks at Pearl Harbor

Aired April 26, 2003 - 16:00   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.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You can't go wrong with the lead story about hundreds of very happy people all in one place, and that place is Pearl Harbor. And all those happy people are sailing home with the USS Abraham Lincoln and its battle group. The carrier itself hasn't docked yet, but one of the group's ships, the guided missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton pulled in a couple of hours ago. Quite a homecoming it was. Kyra Phillips at dockside joins us on the phone from Pearl Harbor -- Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good to hear your voice. You're right. This guided missile destroyer got in just about two hours ago. Exactly. And you've mentioned that this was a very important ship during Operation Iraqi Freedom. It fired 50 Tomahawk missiles. Its war fighting capabilities, of course, is the Aegis combat system. The other mission this ship performed out in the Persian Gulf, the MIO (ph) operations. Before Operation Iraqi Freedom, they were patrolling the waterways looking for illegal smuggling. Then once the war started, it took on that combat capability.

Families, friends gathered at Pearl Harbor today, emotional homecoming, specifically for the 14 fathers on that ship that had never seen their babies before. One family, in particular, that we got to meet, the Galetta (ph) family. Sonar tech Seaman Kevin saw his baby, Katie, for the very first time. She was born on Christmas Day. His wife, April, was with him. Anthony, their 2-year-old. I tell you what, that is what it's all about is just seeing those families coming together for the first time, specifically when they've never seen those children. It really shows what they put on the line and what they do, obviously, for this country. Many sacrifices made, but today, it all came together.

Someone else we got to talk to, the CO of the ship, Commander Fred Fuhrman (ph). We were able to grab him just as he was coming off for the very first time onto land in eight months. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: How does it feel, sir, to be home?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, beyond words. Absolutely beyond words.

PHILLIPS: In studio, we've got Andrew's parents, the Roys. I want to meet your kids. Introduce us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my eldest sun Bruce Fuhrman and my youngest son, Brian Fuhrman (ph).

PHILLIPS: Hi there, how are you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to say hi to Ms. Phillips?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.

PHILLIPS: Hi, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. So you guys, tell me about your dad. Are you proud of him or what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, very.

PHILLIPS: What's it like to see him for the first time in months?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't say. I don't know.

PHILLIPS: What did you miss about him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I just missed him a lot.

PHILLIPS: What did you miss about your dad?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He never got to play with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: You also heard the commander mention Andrew Roy. I think I mentioned Andrew Roy's parents back in the studio. Well, this was another young man, an ensign on the ship that we got to know. I got to meet him last fall before the war started. He was in charge of the boarding teams out there in the Persian Gulf, teams that boarded the ships of the illegal smugglers, trying to enforce the sanctions against Saddam Hussein and his regime prior to the war starting.

Well, Andrew was very -- (AUDIO GAP) -- we were connecting families and friends all over the globe. It was an incredible experience and you could definitely feel the energy. And for me, embedded within this battle group, the USS Paul Hamilton, the Abraham Lincoln, it was great to see the ship come home and see all those sailors coming home alive and successfully completing Operation Iraqi Freedom -- Anderson.

COOPER: And there is a lot of joy in Pearl Harbor tonight, no doubt. Kyra Phillips, thanks very much for that report.

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 26, 2003 - 16:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You can't go wrong with the lead story about hundreds of very happy people all in one place, and that place is Pearl Harbor. And all those happy people are sailing home with the USS Abraham Lincoln and its battle group. The carrier itself hasn't docked yet, but one of the group's ships, the guided missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton pulled in a couple of hours ago. Quite a homecoming it was. Kyra Phillips at dockside joins us on the phone from Pearl Harbor -- Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good to hear your voice. You're right. This guided missile destroyer got in just about two hours ago. Exactly. And you've mentioned that this was a very important ship during Operation Iraqi Freedom. It fired 50 Tomahawk missiles. Its war fighting capabilities, of course, is the Aegis combat system. The other mission this ship performed out in the Persian Gulf, the MIO (ph) operations. Before Operation Iraqi Freedom, they were patrolling the waterways looking for illegal smuggling. Then once the war started, it took on that combat capability.

Families, friends gathered at Pearl Harbor today, emotional homecoming, specifically for the 14 fathers on that ship that had never seen their babies before. One family, in particular, that we got to meet, the Galetta (ph) family. Sonar tech Seaman Kevin saw his baby, Katie, for the very first time. She was born on Christmas Day. His wife, April, was with him. Anthony, their 2-year-old. I tell you what, that is what it's all about is just seeing those families coming together for the first time, specifically when they've never seen those children. It really shows what they put on the line and what they do, obviously, for this country. Many sacrifices made, but today, it all came together.

Someone else we got to talk to, the CO of the ship, Commander Fred Fuhrman (ph). We were able to grab him just as he was coming off for the very first time onto land in eight months. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: How does it feel, sir, to be home?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, beyond words. Absolutely beyond words.

PHILLIPS: In studio, we've got Andrew's parents, the Roys. I want to meet your kids. Introduce us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my eldest sun Bruce Fuhrman and my youngest son, Brian Fuhrman (ph).

PHILLIPS: Hi there, how are you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to say hi to Ms. Phillips?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.

PHILLIPS: Hi, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. So you guys, tell me about your dad. Are you proud of him or what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, very.

PHILLIPS: What's it like to see him for the first time in months?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't say. I don't know.

PHILLIPS: What did you miss about him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I just missed him a lot.

PHILLIPS: What did you miss about your dad?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He never got to play with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: You also heard the commander mention Andrew Roy. I think I mentioned Andrew Roy's parents back in the studio. Well, this was another young man, an ensign on the ship that we got to know. I got to meet him last fall before the war started. He was in charge of the boarding teams out there in the Persian Gulf, teams that boarded the ships of the illegal smugglers, trying to enforce the sanctions against Saddam Hussein and his regime prior to the war starting.

Well, Andrew was very -- (AUDIO GAP) -- we were connecting families and friends all over the globe. It was an incredible experience and you could definitely feel the energy. And for me, embedded within this battle group, the USS Paul Hamilton, the Abraham Lincoln, it was great to see the ship come home and see all those sailors coming home alive and successfully completing Operation Iraqi Freedom -- Anderson.

COOPER: And there is a lot of joy in Pearl Harbor tonight, no doubt. Kyra Phillips, thanks very much for that report.

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