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Israel Reeling From Shuttle Disaster

Aired February 03, 2003 - 14:27   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Colonel Ilan Ramon, the son of a Holocaust survivor, citizen of the state of Israel, the first Israeli ever to fly in space, and a man who already among the best and brightest in Israel, part of the vaunted Israeli air force. In the mid '80s, he was one of the people who dropped bombs on Saddam Hussein's nuclear facility in Iraq.
He was a hero, and he is being treated as such in his passing. CNN's Kelly Wallace joining us from Jerusalem with more on that -- Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Miles, he was a hero. He was viewed as a ray of hope after months and months of sadness, with the violence, the dismal economy. So this tragedy hitting this country so very hard. The mourning continues: on the home in Tel Aviv of Colonel Ilan Ramon, a simple notice saying hero of Israel, may his memory be blessed. He was to have returned here from space.

But with Israelis, again, so accustomed to dealing with tragedy, they are vowing to move on, vowing to one day send another Israeli to space, but also saying that Colonel Ramon's memory will always be kept alive. Earlier today, there was a ceremony. Israeli Defense Force officials were joined by an American Air Force commander, the American commander saying the hearts of the United States and Israel became tied after this tragedy.

The commander and Israeli officials saying the two countries would continue to work on other challenges, but that they would always remember Colonel Ramon.

Now, Israelis sending a collective expression of sympathy to Colonel Ramon's wife, Rona, and the four small children. Rona Ramon spoke out for the first time to reporters. She said she will always remember her husband with a smile on his face. She said he never talked about death, a point underscored by the fact that he did not have a will. Weighing her down a bit, though, some words she is recalling what her 5-year-old daughter Nowar (ph) told her after liftoff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONA RAMON, ILAN RAMON'S WIDOW (through translator): The only thing that haunts me now is that during the takeoff, while we were all on a high because it was such a wonderful and perfect event, my youngest daughter yelled, I lost my daddy. And apparently she knew. She's only 5 years old, and that's the only thing that hurts. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And in the Jewish faith, there can be no traditional burial until remains are found. So an Israeli military rabbi is in Texas working with NASA officials and other U.S. officials to try to quickly locate and identify Colonel Ramon's remains so that there can be a formal burial. So until that point, there is no memorial service planned in Israel. Of course though, Miles, Colonel Ramon's wife and the children will be at that Texas service tomorrow -- back to you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: It is just chilling to hear that account of that little girl and what she said -- Kelly.

WALLACE: It really is. And, again, Rona Ramon saying that she's really recalling those words. Again, that everyone else was elated with joy that Colonel Ramon was living, really, his lifelong dream, and then to have those words. But she's also saying, Miles, that she's taking a lot of comfort in the fact that her husband and the other astronauts were having so much fun, that there was such joy in their e-mails, in their correspondence. She is saying they are all angels, so she and the other families getting some comfort in that.

O'BRIEN: Well, there certainly is no doubt they died doing what they loved best. There is no question about that. Kelly Wallace in Jerusalem. Thank you very much.

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 February 3, 2003 - 14:27   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Colonel Ilan Ramon, the son of a Holocaust survivor, citizen of the state of Israel, the first Israeli ever to fly in space, and a man who already among the best and brightest in Israel, part of the vaunted Israeli air force. In the mid '80s, he was one of the people who dropped bombs on Saddam Hussein's nuclear facility in Iraq.
He was a hero, and he is being treated as such in his passing. CNN's Kelly Wallace joining us from Jerusalem with more on that -- Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Miles, he was a hero. He was viewed as a ray of hope after months and months of sadness, with the violence, the dismal economy. So this tragedy hitting this country so very hard. The mourning continues: on the home in Tel Aviv of Colonel Ilan Ramon, a simple notice saying hero of Israel, may his memory be blessed. He was to have returned here from space.

But with Israelis, again, so accustomed to dealing with tragedy, they are vowing to move on, vowing to one day send another Israeli to space, but also saying that Colonel Ramon's memory will always be kept alive. Earlier today, there was a ceremony. Israeli Defense Force officials were joined by an American Air Force commander, the American commander saying the hearts of the United States and Israel became tied after this tragedy.

The commander and Israeli officials saying the two countries would continue to work on other challenges, but that they would always remember Colonel Ramon.

Now, Israelis sending a collective expression of sympathy to Colonel Ramon's wife, Rona, and the four small children. Rona Ramon spoke out for the first time to reporters. She said she will always remember her husband with a smile on his face. She said he never talked about death, a point underscored by the fact that he did not have a will. Weighing her down a bit, though, some words she is recalling what her 5-year-old daughter Nowar (ph) told her after liftoff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONA RAMON, ILAN RAMON'S WIDOW (through translator): The only thing that haunts me now is that during the takeoff, while we were all on a high because it was such a wonderful and perfect event, my youngest daughter yelled, I lost my daddy. And apparently she knew. She's only 5 years old, and that's the only thing that hurts. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And in the Jewish faith, there can be no traditional burial until remains are found. So an Israeli military rabbi is in Texas working with NASA officials and other U.S. officials to try to quickly locate and identify Colonel Ramon's remains so that there can be a formal burial. So until that point, there is no memorial service planned in Israel. Of course though, Miles, Colonel Ramon's wife and the children will be at that Texas service tomorrow -- back to you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: It is just chilling to hear that account of that little girl and what she said -- Kelly.

WALLACE: It really is. And, again, Rona Ramon saying that she's really recalling those words. Again, that everyone else was elated with joy that Colonel Ramon was living, really, his lifelong dream, and then to have those words. But she's also saying, Miles, that she's taking a lot of comfort in the fact that her husband and the other astronauts were having so much fun, that there was such joy in their e-mails, in their correspondence. She is saying they are all angels, so she and the other families getting some comfort in that.

O'BRIEN: Well, there certainly is no doubt they died doing what they loved best. There is no question about that. Kelly Wallace in Jerusalem. Thank you very much.

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