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Families Struggle at Home With POW Reports

Aired March 25, 2003 - 15:56   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.


WOODRUFF: There is no doubt that every minute of this war is weighing on the families of coalition forces. And that may be especially true for the relatives of those captured or missing Americans.
Five soldiers from Fort Bliss, Texas were captured and ambushed in southern Iraq. They are: Army Specialist Shoshona Johnson, Private First Class Patrick Miller, Specialist Joseph Hudson, and Edgar Hernandez, and Sergeant James Riley. And two U.S. pilots were captured when their Apache helicopter went down in Iraq. Chief Warrant officers Ronald D. Young of Lithia Springs, Georgia, and David Williams from Orlando, Florida.

We are identifying four of at least six U.S. troops known to be missing in action. They are: Private First Class Laurie Piestewa of Tuba City, Arizona, Sergeant Donald Walters of Salem Oregon, Private First Class Jessica Lynch of Palestine, West Virginia, and Private Brandon Sloan of Bedford Heights, Ohio. These are the most difficult of times for the families of those American troops now being held captive or missing in Iraq. And today, some of those family members are speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, at first, I felt like I didn't know whether he was alive or not. And that was a real big question for me. And as I went through the day I said, well, he's got to be. I figured, that's probably not him in the helicopter, and I convinced myself that it wasn't his. He had one out of six chances for it to be.

But then the Army came up and told us, you know, the bad news, that it was his helicopter. I had this sinking feeling and I didn't know where -- they wouldn't give me any information really, so I didn't know whether he was alive or dead. He was just missing.

DAVID WILLIAMS, FATHER OF POW: He seemed to be in good spirits. And, you know, I'm sure he doesn't like being there, but I'm sure, you know, the situation, he'll make the best of it.

CLAUDE JOHNSON, FATHER OF POWE: I found out Sunday morning at 8:00. I was searching for a cartoon station for her daughter, and I came across Telemundo. And Telemundo had information on prisoners, their names, their units, age and race. They said an African-American female, 30, her name is Shana (ph) and she was in 507 Maintenance. Duh, that can only be one person I know of. How many 30-year-olds named Shoshana -- or then said Shana (ph), as a matter of fact -- named Shana (ph) in the 507 Maintenance? It's got to be my daughter.

NORMAN WALTERS, FATHER OF MIA: He had mentioned that he had a premonition that he wasn't going to make it this time. And that was kind of hard to deal with. So I told him that I thought it was going to be OK, and that they would watch out for him and that everything would work out. But it hasn't. He's turned up missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's tough, but we have each other. We have our family and our friends and we pray. And we just take it day by day. And if we have to, minute by minute.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: Just unimaginably hard for those families, and we are so grateful to them to be willing to talk to us about what they are going through right now as they worry about their loved ones.

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 March 25, 2003 - 15:56   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOODRUFF: There is no doubt that every minute of this war is weighing on the families of coalition forces. And that may be especially true for the relatives of those captured or missing Americans.
Five soldiers from Fort Bliss, Texas were captured and ambushed in southern Iraq. They are: Army Specialist Shoshona Johnson, Private First Class Patrick Miller, Specialist Joseph Hudson, and Edgar Hernandez, and Sergeant James Riley. And two U.S. pilots were captured when their Apache helicopter went down in Iraq. Chief Warrant officers Ronald D. Young of Lithia Springs, Georgia, and David Williams from Orlando, Florida.

We are identifying four of at least six U.S. troops known to be missing in action. They are: Private First Class Laurie Piestewa of Tuba City, Arizona, Sergeant Donald Walters of Salem Oregon, Private First Class Jessica Lynch of Palestine, West Virginia, and Private Brandon Sloan of Bedford Heights, Ohio. These are the most difficult of times for the families of those American troops now being held captive or missing in Iraq. And today, some of those family members are speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, at first, I felt like I didn't know whether he was alive or not. And that was a real big question for me. And as I went through the day I said, well, he's got to be. I figured, that's probably not him in the helicopter, and I convinced myself that it wasn't his. He had one out of six chances for it to be.

But then the Army came up and told us, you know, the bad news, that it was his helicopter. I had this sinking feeling and I didn't know where -- they wouldn't give me any information really, so I didn't know whether he was alive or dead. He was just missing.

DAVID WILLIAMS, FATHER OF POW: He seemed to be in good spirits. And, you know, I'm sure he doesn't like being there, but I'm sure, you know, the situation, he'll make the best of it.

CLAUDE JOHNSON, FATHER OF POWE: I found out Sunday morning at 8:00. I was searching for a cartoon station for her daughter, and I came across Telemundo. And Telemundo had information on prisoners, their names, their units, age and race. They said an African-American female, 30, her name is Shana (ph) and she was in 507 Maintenance. Duh, that can only be one person I know of. How many 30-year-olds named Shoshana -- or then said Shana (ph), as a matter of fact -- named Shana (ph) in the 507 Maintenance? It's got to be my daughter.

NORMAN WALTERS, FATHER OF MIA: He had mentioned that he had a premonition that he wasn't going to make it this time. And that was kind of hard to deal with. So I told him that I thought it was going to be OK, and that they would watch out for him and that everything would work out. But it hasn't. He's turned up missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's tough, but we have each other. We have our family and our friends and we pray. And we just take it day by day. And if we have to, minute by minute.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: Just unimaginably hard for those families, and we are so grateful to them to be willing to talk to us about what they are going through right now as they worry about their loved ones.

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