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CNN Live Saturday
U.S.S. Cole Returns To Sea
Aired November 29, 2003 - 12:32 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.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Three years after a terrorist attack blew a hole in the USS Cole, it is returning to the seas. Part of a surface strike group about to leave for the mediterranean sflaechlt CNN's elaine kean no is in norfolk. What is the mood there?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Folks standing next to me couldn't be more proud. As you said, this is the first deployment for the USS Cole since that terror attack in October 2000. And joining me to share their thoughts are Becky and Bob Hill. Your son, David, 23 years old. He graduated from the Naval Academy and said what?
BECKY HILL, SON SAILING ON USS COLE: He said he would like to choose the Cole as his first choice of all the ships that he had to choose from when he was going to surface warfare. When he -- it was his opportunity to choose, he chose the Cole and here he is.
QUIJANO: Why did he want to choose the Cole over all the other opportunities that he had?
BECKY HILL: Well, after the bombing of the Cole, David said he knew this was one ship that the United States was going to take all over the world to show the flag and show our pride. He couldn't be more proud to serve and he's headed off.
QUIJANO: Emotional time for you?
BECKY HILL: Yes.
QUIJANO: What are your thoughts today, Becky?
BECKY HILL: I'm thrilled. He's doing his job. We're going to miss him, because he will be gone. We're hoping he will be back by his birthday in June.
QUIJANO: You said he is your baby?
BECKY HILL: He's our 23-year-old baby, but he's always been a grown-up.
QUIJANO: Let me ask you, Bob, what are your feelings knowing that there is still a tremendous amount of danger out there, especially in the time we live in now and the history of the Cole, what did you say to David?
BOB HILL, SON SAILING ON USS COLE: I just told him that we loved him, that we're praying for him. We know he's well prepared. He has a job to do. He's going to do a good job. The ship is going to do a good job and we know he's in the lord's hands.
QUIJANO: Bob and Becky Hill, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.
And those are the feelings of the people I talked to here. Some of the same feelings shared by many of the family members here. They say althought, obviously what happened is on their minds, they're definitely proud of their loved ones at this particular moment.
Just some facts about the U.S.S. Cole now. I talked to the captain of this ship, Captain Chris Grady earlier today, who said there are 320 some sailors on board this ship, nine of which were actually here on the day that that terrorist attack happened back on October 12 of 2000. For those nine sailors, it's been a tremendously difficult time, as one can imagine.
In fact, some of them didn't really want to talk us to. We had requested interviews with them. They said they simply wanted to be here on this day. They had the option of not -- of going to other missions, but they said it was important for them to be here to honor the memory of their friends who died in this ship. Now, preparing to take off in about 30 minutes or so -- Kelly.
WALLACE: Elaine, thank you. Clearly an emotional time. We will be checking in with you throughout the day.
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 November 29, 2003 - 12:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Three years after a terrorist attack blew a hole in the USS Cole, it is returning to the seas. Part of a surface strike group about to leave for the mediterranean sflaechlt CNN's elaine kean no is in norfolk. What is the mood there?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Folks standing next to me couldn't be more proud. As you said, this is the first deployment for the USS Cole since that terror attack in October 2000. And joining me to share their thoughts are Becky and Bob Hill. Your son, David, 23 years old. He graduated from the Naval Academy and said what?
BECKY HILL, SON SAILING ON USS COLE: He said he would like to choose the Cole as his first choice of all the ships that he had to choose from when he was going to surface warfare. When he -- it was his opportunity to choose, he chose the Cole and here he is.
QUIJANO: Why did he want to choose the Cole over all the other opportunities that he had?
BECKY HILL: Well, after the bombing of the Cole, David said he knew this was one ship that the United States was going to take all over the world to show the flag and show our pride. He couldn't be more proud to serve and he's headed off.
QUIJANO: Emotional time for you?
BECKY HILL: Yes.
QUIJANO: What are your thoughts today, Becky?
BECKY HILL: I'm thrilled. He's doing his job. We're going to miss him, because he will be gone. We're hoping he will be back by his birthday in June.
QUIJANO: You said he is your baby?
BECKY HILL: He's our 23-year-old baby, but he's always been a grown-up.
QUIJANO: Let me ask you, Bob, what are your feelings knowing that there is still a tremendous amount of danger out there, especially in the time we live in now and the history of the Cole, what did you say to David?
BOB HILL, SON SAILING ON USS COLE: I just told him that we loved him, that we're praying for him. We know he's well prepared. He has a job to do. He's going to do a good job. The ship is going to do a good job and we know he's in the lord's hands.
QUIJANO: Bob and Becky Hill, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.
And those are the feelings of the people I talked to here. Some of the same feelings shared by many of the family members here. They say althought, obviously what happened is on their minds, they're definitely proud of their loved ones at this particular moment.
Just some facts about the U.S.S. Cole now. I talked to the captain of this ship, Captain Chris Grady earlier today, who said there are 320 some sailors on board this ship, nine of which were actually here on the day that that terrorist attack happened back on October 12 of 2000. For those nine sailors, it's been a tremendously difficult time, as one can imagine.
In fact, some of them didn't really want to talk us to. We had requested interviews with them. They said they simply wanted to be here on this day. They had the option of not -- of going to other missions, but they said it was important for them to be here to honor the memory of their friends who died in this ship. Now, preparing to take off in about 30 minutes or so -- Kelly.
WALLACE: Elaine, thank you. Clearly an emotional time. We will be checking in with you throughout the day.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
