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CNN Live Saturday
Interview With Nephritide Horton
Aired May 03, 2003 - 22:28 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: After 10 months at sea, much of it in combat, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is just days from home right now. A lot of loved ones counting the hours. It left San Diego this morning and should be in Everett, Washington on Tuesday.
CNN's Frank Buckley is aboard the giant ship.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the USS Abraham Lincoln is continuing toward its home port of Everett, Washington after dropping off the air wing in San Diego. The USS Abraham Lincoln now on the open blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, heading along the West Coast of the United States.
The flight deck, a very quiet place now, not the very busy place that it once was during Operations Enduring Freedom, Southern Watch, and Iraqi Freedom.
Among the sailors who participated in all of those operations, Nephritide Horton, who is also a mother. Let me see that picture of your two beautiful children, six and two years old. This has been a difficult time for you, hasn't it?
NEPHRITIDE HORTON, U.S. NAVY: It certainly has.
BUCKLEY: Tell me what it's been like being a mother in the Navy with two children at home?
HORTON: Well, it's been pretty hard. When you come out on deployment and stuff, you miss those first moments when they're walking, when they're talking, when they get to do their first potty training and everything. So I don't get to see any of that. I don't get to see those best years when they're growing up...
So instead, my mother, she snaps pictures of each moment, and she mails them to me, letting me know how they're doing or e-mail them or write them a letter and stuff.
BUCKLEY: How do you stay connected to them, and let them know that mama loves them and cares for them?
HORTON: I write them letters. I draw them pictures. I -- whenever we get a chance to pull in port, either down in the ship's store, I purchase little small things. And I'll send it off to them and let them know that I truly love them. BUCKLEY: Let's hope that they're watching now. What do you want to say to them?
HORTON: I went to tell Elijah and Elena that I love them very much and I would definitely be home very soon.
BUCKLEY: OK, Nephritide Horton, thanks for talking to us and thanks for your service.
HORTON: Thank you.
BUCKLEY: All right, just one of the 3,000 sailors that are headed home, Tuesday, to Everett, Washington.
Frank Buckley, CNN, aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln off the West Coast of the United States.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 May 3, 2003 - 22:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: After 10 months at sea, much of it in combat, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is just days from home right now. A lot of loved ones counting the hours. It left San Diego this morning and should be in Everett, Washington on Tuesday.
CNN's Frank Buckley is aboard the giant ship.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the USS Abraham Lincoln is continuing toward its home port of Everett, Washington after dropping off the air wing in San Diego. The USS Abraham Lincoln now on the open blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, heading along the West Coast of the United States.
The flight deck, a very quiet place now, not the very busy place that it once was during Operations Enduring Freedom, Southern Watch, and Iraqi Freedom.
Among the sailors who participated in all of those operations, Nephritide Horton, who is also a mother. Let me see that picture of your two beautiful children, six and two years old. This has been a difficult time for you, hasn't it?
NEPHRITIDE HORTON, U.S. NAVY: It certainly has.
BUCKLEY: Tell me what it's been like being a mother in the Navy with two children at home?
HORTON: Well, it's been pretty hard. When you come out on deployment and stuff, you miss those first moments when they're walking, when they're talking, when they get to do their first potty training and everything. So I don't get to see any of that. I don't get to see those best years when they're growing up...
So instead, my mother, she snaps pictures of each moment, and she mails them to me, letting me know how they're doing or e-mail them or write them a letter and stuff.
BUCKLEY: How do you stay connected to them, and let them know that mama loves them and cares for them?
HORTON: I write them letters. I draw them pictures. I -- whenever we get a chance to pull in port, either down in the ship's store, I purchase little small things. And I'll send it off to them and let them know that I truly love them. BUCKLEY: Let's hope that they're watching now. What do you want to say to them?
HORTON: I went to tell Elijah and Elena that I love them very much and I would definitely be home very soon.
BUCKLEY: OK, Nephritide Horton, thanks for talking to us and thanks for your service.
HORTON: Thank you.
BUCKLEY: All right, just one of the 3,000 sailors that are headed home, Tuesday, to Everett, Washington.
Frank Buckley, CNN, aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln off the West Coast of the United States.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
