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Devil Docs Bring Up the Rear

Aired April 06, 2003 - 15:28   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.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the medical -- the coalition medical convoy is bringing up the rear in the campaign headed to Baghdad. CNN's medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is embedded with the group, the so-called Devil Docs. He joins us now by telephone with some new developments.
Sanjay, when we talked to you not too long ago, you were on your way to Baghdad.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We are still on our way to the outskirts of Baghdad. We were 30 miles south when we started and we have been heading north, Judy.

We started about 7 hours ago. It was supposed to be a three to four hour ride, but as you probably heard and so many reporters have experienced, these convoy rides are often much longer than expected often because of security reasons, Judy. We did see a fire fight in the -- several hundred meters in front of us, pretty significant. I've never seen anything like that myself.

Obviously, the convoy stopped and we all hunkered down. We were in a lights out situation. It is dark here at 10:30, 10:40 now at night. And then two Cobra helicopters flew overhead and there was significant air-to-surface firepower. And the fire fight, I think, has subsequently ended.

We are moving again, now although at a snail's pace, I will tell you. People are very quiet now, the Devil Dos. Many of them, reservists, have never seen anything like this before either. It is a little bit, I think, eerie for everyone as far as this convoy. A large convoy, over 50 vehicles heading through the darkness in this lights out situation. You can just sort of paint the picture in your own mind of what that might be like. Two M-16s on either side of me pointed outward. They're pointed outward at all times looking for snipers, looking for anybody else.

I will say though we have not come under any fire ourselves. And it has been a rather secure ride for the convoy itself. Planning to head north. These Devil Docs are to take care of the frontline casualties. They will take care of those. There have been many, Judy, as I mentioned last hour under the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or 40 hours. They're expecting even more and they're ready for just about anything -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Their stamina is extraordinary as is yours, Sanjay. I want to clarify, how much do you know -- the entire group, how much do they know as they head forward about the number of casualties they're going to be dealing with?

And how is it deciding what you do first? I assume it's a just a typical triage situation.

SANJAY: That's a good question, Judy. First of all, they have been hearing extraordinary numbers in terms of what they may have to deal with over the next few days. There are a few different surgical companies. And the way it works is sort of interesting, Judy. They piggyback over each other, across Iraq and South from Kuwait over to Baghdad. They have been piggybacking, and they will eventually will all congregate in one location in Baghdad. So all of their resources will be allocated to taking care of casualties in Baghdad. And they are expecting some high numbers. Some of the numbers. In the thousands of patients, they will be taken care of over the next few days. The triage system is medical triage not political triage. Any person who comes in it can be Iraqi or coalition member if they are the sickest and can benefit the most from the operation, they will get the operation first. And the doctors have been very clear on this.

I'll tell you that on a personal note, one of the first operations we reported was of an Iraqi soldier who was operated on, and the Marines, Navy doctors were operating on this person just on the heels of learning that four soldiers had been executed. A very poignant moment at that time for these Naval doctors. But they did not hesitate for what they had to do. It is, as they say, medical triage, not political triage. It's been that way all along, Judy.

WOODRUFF: Dr. Sanjay, our medical correspondent. We continue to marvel at what these doctors are doing, like he said several surgical units moving towards Baghdad. He said 80 percent of the people they treat are Iraqi, at least in the last day or so, according to Sanjay. Finally, he said they are expecting thousands of casualties, to be dealing with that high number once they get into the Baghdad area. Let's take a look now at half past the hour at what the headlines are right now. For that, we go to Fredricka Whitfield.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Judy. Here are the headlines for this hour. U.S. force says they have created a ring around Baghdad, allowing them to control all roads in and out of the Iraqi Capital. By day in Baghdad, calls to prayer echoed along with gunfire. After dark, Iraqi officials imposed a curfew on civilians in the city.

Two days after the U.S. captured the Iraqi airport, the first military transport plane has landed there. And Walter Rogers reports, the coalition waited for the cover of darkness to avoid Iraqi anti- aircraft batteries still functioning near the airport. An apparent friendly fire incident near the northern city of Mosul. Kurds say a U.S. airplane attacked a convoy of Kurdish fighters, killing 18 and wounding 45. One member of the U.S. Special Forces team accompanying the Kurdish fighters was injured.

U.S. Forensics experts are offering an explanation for a mystery in Southern Iraq. A warehouse appears to have been converted into a massive morgue, containing more than 400 sets of human remains. The U.S. military team says they are from Iraq's war with Iran in the 1980s. Four days after U.S. commandos rescued her from an Iraqi hospital, 19-year-old Jessica Lynch is being reunited with her family. Her mother, father, and two siblings arrived this morning in Germany where Lynch is being treated for injuries she received when taken captive in Iraq.

Here's what you'll see coming up in our next hour: a full investigation into an apparent friendly fire incident in Northern Iraq. We will get the latest from our reporters there. Plus, the struggle to get food and water delivered in Southern Iraq. We will talk to a World Health Organization coordinator in the region, and CNN's Bill Schneider will be here with what has not happened in the war. We will look at all of those prewar predictions. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Our coverage of the war in Iraq will return in moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: With the U.S. Army south and west of Baghdad, the U.S. Marines are moving into the southeast suburbs. Going house to house, flushing out Iraqi fighters and scaring some civilians, CNN's Martin Savidge is with the First Battalion 7th Marines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: As they have for the past three days, the Marines continue to drive into the southeastern suburbs of Baghdad. And as they do, they have been encountering pockets of resistance. This is sporadic fighting that does not occur all the time, but does flare up from place to place, and they have been moving into built-up areas, and that is complicating things for the movement of the convoys.

Other units have pushed ahead, but now the 1st Battalion 7th Marines in this specific area we are at, has been tasked with the job of cleanup, trying to find where the resistance is coming from. Who is it? The search and destroy missions as they call it. The difficulty, of course, is they are now mixed in with the civilian population. Opposing forces are using that to their advantage. For the Marines, they have to be very careful now, have to be careful that they select their targets and make sure that the targets they aim at are, in fact, hostiles while the innocent civilians are not caught in the way. It is now house-to-house searches some time.

A very poignant scene at one point, the cameraman, Scott McWinny (ph) found as these Marines moved in on a house. Now, we do have translators, but not all the units have translators. They came across this one family. It's through voice and through hand gestures that they try to get them to come out of the house, and they do. But it's clear, you can tell, that the family is terrified in the presence of these Marines.

Now, the Marines also, as you may notice in this video, are keeping their weapons well away. They are not pointing them at the women and children and the men of this family, and they are trying to assure them that it's for their own safety. The Marines have been receiving fire from this specific area. They are trying to simply search in and around the home. And once that is completed, the family was allowed to return back to their house.

Meanwhile, though, in the backyards and the back alleys and the side streets, it's a different story. At times, infantry units are fired upon. They call in artillery, which is used to take out some of the heavier fortified positions of Iraqi opposition. This is the way it has gone for the past three days, and may continue like that for sometime. However, last night, a special find the First Battalion 7th Marines managed to capture three members of the special Iraqi Republican Guard. These were men that were identified because of the ID cards they had with them. They weren't wearing uniforms but did have them in the back seat of their vehicles as well as their weapons. The three men are now being interrogated and reportedly cooperating with the Marines. It is hard, difficult, dangerous work. Within the forefront of their minds, always protecting the Iraqi civilians.

Martin Savidge CNN, Southeast of Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Hard to get the image of those frightened -- the frightened faces of those women and children out of one's mind.

Well, British forces encounter a surprise along Iraqi railroad tracks. And no, it wasn't a pocket of resistance. The story of the forgotten village is still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. VINCENT BROOKS, CENTCOM: It's hot, and when it's hot, this decisions made by all commanders, probably even Iraqi commanders in this case. The weather affects everyone on the battlefield of the advantage goes to the force that is trained to deal with those weather conditions when they occur. Whether it's daytime, nighttime, rain storm. Whatever it happens to be, or even heat. So we feel confident that our forces are well prepared. They are well trained. They get better with every day's action that goes by. And the regime gets in greater and greater danger with every moment that they have chosen to remain in place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: General Vincent Brooks at Central Command this morning talking about the weather in Iraq.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

WOODRUFF: British forces face the dawning task of trying to get food and water, especially in this heat, to suffering Iraqis. Part of their challenge is simply finding the people who are in need. As Greg Milam reports, an uncharted village in Southern Iraq highlights just what the problem is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GREG MILAM, REPORTER: It is on no map of Iraq. Yet the people in this village west of the southern oil fields are in just as much need as those in many other communities. It was discovered by Royal Engineers surveying the disused railroad line. Two hundred people cut off ever since the rail service broke down two week ago. Today the water arrived. It's clear, though, that more help is needed. This man told us that what was really required was medical aid. There is no hospital no medical center in the area. He said the village had been left behind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The arrival of water supplies here has conjured up excitement (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Those who have discovered this village don't know is how many more just like it there are in Southern Iraq.

MILAM: It was obvious the bottled water was welcome. The job of getting the railway line from Umm Qasr up and running again has fallen to the Captain Fiona Steele.

FIONA STEELE, 16TH AIR ASSAULT BRIGADE: We have all the rolling stock here. We have contacts to get drivers back to work already. The railway line is key to this area (UNINTELLIGIBLE) water, because they do rely on the railway line for that, which is why we are trying to get it up an running (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

MILAM: The elders here keep a tight reign on their small community. But in the distance, they can hear the rumblings of war. The rebuilding for many in Iraq will have to wait.

Greg Milam, Southern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And when we return, some American troops killed in Iraq are being remembered today. We will visit the hometown of the first American servicewoman killed in this war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Fort Bliss, Texas continue to mourn its dead. The nine members of the 507 Maintenance Company who were killed in an ambush in Southern Iraq some two weeks ago. CNN's Ed Lavandera is with us now from Fort Bliss -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. It was exactly two weeks ago that the military community here in Fort Bliss was first learning of the ambush that claimed the lives of nine soldiers from the 507th Maintenance Company. Two of those we have known for sometime have been dead. But late Friday night others families members of those that were missing at that point missing in action learned of the fate of their loved ones that the nine of the soldiers would not be coming home to fort bliss alive. So church services here on this base, although not an official memorial service for those soldiers but definitely a very somber tone services this morning as many family members of this community coming out to church services to not only pray for the family members of the soldiers that have been lost in battle, but also for the families of the five POWs.

There are still five prisoners of war from this maintenance company. And there is a sense of hope here that prison perhaps their story will come out with a more happy ending to this. So that is what everyone here is praying for. And that is definitely the tone from this morning's church service here at Fort Bliss.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The faith community of the Diocese of El Paso joined with the Fort Bliss extended family. Praying and asking god to have mercy upon those he has called. And secondly, asking for a safe return to those sisters and brothers who are your extended, my extended brothers and sisters. And thirdly, we pray for the families, that they may be supported, the spouses, the children, grandparents, and extended families.

LAVANDERA: Wolf, now the official memorial service for the soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company will be held next Friday afternoon. Members of the public here in El Paso are also invited to attend that ceremony as well. And they say that will be an extremely emotional situation. One other note. There have been about four soldiers from the 507th Maintenance Company that were wounded in that ambush. Two of them are being treated in the Washington, D.C. area. There are also two other soldiers who have made their way back here to El Paso. The second one is scheduled to arrive here later on this afternoon. Wolf.

BLITZER: Ed Lavandera, thanks very much. He is at Fort Bliss, Texas -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Thanks, Wolf. Well, plans are underway in Washington to honor one of the members of the 507th Maintenance Company killed in Iraq. Lori Piestewa was the first American servicewoman killed in the war in Iraq and she is apparently the first Native American woman known to have lost her life in the military as a result of combat. She was remembered today during church services in her hometown of Tuba City, Arizona.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. GODDEN MENARD, ST. JUDE CHURCH: I too am proud of her, and I thank her for being willing to give her life for her country. I'm also going to tell the people that they have been praying for two weeks now, and if they have been praying in the right spirit, asking God if it's his will that she come back, that now they will be content with the fact that she's not able to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: CNN's Rusty Dornin went to Piestewa's hometown in Arizona, and she takes a closer look at this 23-year-old Army private who gave her life for her country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lori Piestewa was said to have a mind of her own. So it was no surprise to those close to her when she joined the Army. Seen here with her family gathered close before she went to Iraq, Piestewa said her biggest concern was about her two young children.

LORI PIESTEWA, U.S. ARMY: ... like, knowing that my family will be taken care of.

DORNIN: Rocked by anxiety for nearly two weeks when she was reported missing, Lori's family gathered close again, this time to mourn a woman her brother called our lady warrior.

WAYLAND PIESTEWA, BROTHER OF LORI PIESTEWA: Our family is very proud of her. We know she's our hero, as you've heard before. We are continuing to believe that. We are going hold that in our hearts forever. And she will not be forgotten.

DORNIN: Lori Piestewa grew up in searing heat of the Arizona desert. A hoping Indian sitting on the Navaho reservation here in Tuba City. People here joke that everyone in this community of 9,000 is related. So when Piestewa was reported missing, the whole town wanted to help. When her death was announced, three Tuba City residents say they wanted to celebrate Piestewa by giving the 23-year- old a "walk of life," complete with the flag she so loved. Tisha Charley was a year ahead of Piestewa in school.

(on camera): What was Lori like, even in high school?

TISHA CHARLEY, FORMER CLASSMATE: She was always energetic, she was always happy. I'll always remember that she was the happiest person that I've ever seen. She was always outgoing, supporting her friends.

DORNIN: Her friends including Jessica Lynch, her roommate at Fort Bliss. Piestewa's family even met Lynch before the two women deployed. The young soldier's body may not be returned for days, but when a gentle snow fell, as the Hopi chairman spoke to reporters, it was a sign to the Native Americans here that her spirit was not far away.

WAYNE TAYLOR, HOPI TRIBAL CHAIRMAN: In the Hopi belief, when one is deceased, they come back home. They visit the family, their community through the moisture. And this is what happened just a while ago. And so I think we were very blessed today.

DORNIN: Spontaneous memorials don't often last long here, whipped to shreds by the desert wind. But along the highway against the red rock mesa, a more permanent tribute to Lori Piestewa, one that can be seen by all those who enter and leave her hometown.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Tuba City, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman to die in the military in combat.

Jessica Lynch, who was captured by Iraqi forces in that ambush on the 507th Maintenance Company is getting a present from home, a visit with her family. Lynch's parents and brother and sister arrived today at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Lynch is at a nearby hospital where she is being treated for broken bones and other injuries.

On Wednesday, U.S. forces rescued Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriya, where she was being held. The search for inner peace in the middle of a deadly war: U.S. troops practice their faith on the frontlines. We will take you there this Sunday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The war in Iraq has brought a unique sight to the mostly Muslim land. American soldiers gathered on this Sunday morning to observe their Christian faith. CNN's Harris Whitbeck is with the U.S. Air Force in south central Iraq, and he has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fighting men and women lay down their weapons for moment of worship. The first Sunday church service to be held in this recently secured Iraqi air base in South Central Iraq. Air Force personnel here are close to the front lines. Being so close to the horrors of war, many of them look for a connection with their religious traditions.

LIESI DAVENPORT, U.S. AIR FORCE: I just think it's important. Because that's a huge link to my family as well. My family has been all religious and the times our families were together were church services, church picnics and so forth. To come for a service once a week for maybe an hour or so is definitely reminiscent of the family and what's important to me back in the States.

CHAPLAIN KLEET BARCLAY, U.S. AIR FORCE: This is our prayer. We ask for it in the holy name of Jesus Christ, amen.

WHITBECK: Chaplain Kleet Barclay's job is delicate.

BARCLAY: I seek you with all my heart. Do not let me stray from your commands.

WHITBECK: He ministers to the spiritual needs of combatants, men and women who go into battle, who in the line of duty are often forced to bring suffering upon others. Outside his makeshift chapel, I asked him about reconciling those actions on the battlefield with the biblical teachings that stress love of mankind.

BARCLAY: There are times for self-defense. There are times when justify will come about a way which aren't pleasing. So I can support that. I don't support the inhumanity of war. That's tragic. I don't want either side to suffer casualties. But sometimes you have to go about it in pretty dire ways.

WHITBECK: As the battle intensify, these men and women will only get busier. Their spiritual counselor will too.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, in south central Iraq. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Straight ahead in the next hour of live coverage. Why military planners risk urban war fair. We've will take a look at what can be gained and at what price. Plus, the hour's top headlines right after this one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 6, 2003 - 15:28   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the medical -- the coalition medical convoy is bringing up the rear in the campaign headed to Baghdad. CNN's medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is embedded with the group, the so-called Devil Docs. He joins us now by telephone with some new developments.
Sanjay, when we talked to you not too long ago, you were on your way to Baghdad.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We are still on our way to the outskirts of Baghdad. We were 30 miles south when we started and we have been heading north, Judy.

We started about 7 hours ago. It was supposed to be a three to four hour ride, but as you probably heard and so many reporters have experienced, these convoy rides are often much longer than expected often because of security reasons, Judy. We did see a fire fight in the -- several hundred meters in front of us, pretty significant. I've never seen anything like that myself.

Obviously, the convoy stopped and we all hunkered down. We were in a lights out situation. It is dark here at 10:30, 10:40 now at night. And then two Cobra helicopters flew overhead and there was significant air-to-surface firepower. And the fire fight, I think, has subsequently ended.

We are moving again, now although at a snail's pace, I will tell you. People are very quiet now, the Devil Dos. Many of them, reservists, have never seen anything like this before either. It is a little bit, I think, eerie for everyone as far as this convoy. A large convoy, over 50 vehicles heading through the darkness in this lights out situation. You can just sort of paint the picture in your own mind of what that might be like. Two M-16s on either side of me pointed outward. They're pointed outward at all times looking for snipers, looking for anybody else.

I will say though we have not come under any fire ourselves. And it has been a rather secure ride for the convoy itself. Planning to head north. These Devil Docs are to take care of the frontline casualties. They will take care of those. There have been many, Judy, as I mentioned last hour under the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or 40 hours. They're expecting even more and they're ready for just about anything -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Their stamina is extraordinary as is yours, Sanjay. I want to clarify, how much do you know -- the entire group, how much do they know as they head forward about the number of casualties they're going to be dealing with?

And how is it deciding what you do first? I assume it's a just a typical triage situation.

SANJAY: That's a good question, Judy. First of all, they have been hearing extraordinary numbers in terms of what they may have to deal with over the next few days. There are a few different surgical companies. And the way it works is sort of interesting, Judy. They piggyback over each other, across Iraq and South from Kuwait over to Baghdad. They have been piggybacking, and they will eventually will all congregate in one location in Baghdad. So all of their resources will be allocated to taking care of casualties in Baghdad. And they are expecting some high numbers. Some of the numbers. In the thousands of patients, they will be taken care of over the next few days. The triage system is medical triage not political triage. Any person who comes in it can be Iraqi or coalition member if they are the sickest and can benefit the most from the operation, they will get the operation first. And the doctors have been very clear on this.

I'll tell you that on a personal note, one of the first operations we reported was of an Iraqi soldier who was operated on, and the Marines, Navy doctors were operating on this person just on the heels of learning that four soldiers had been executed. A very poignant moment at that time for these Naval doctors. But they did not hesitate for what they had to do. It is, as they say, medical triage, not political triage. It's been that way all along, Judy.

WOODRUFF: Dr. Sanjay, our medical correspondent. We continue to marvel at what these doctors are doing, like he said several surgical units moving towards Baghdad. He said 80 percent of the people they treat are Iraqi, at least in the last day or so, according to Sanjay. Finally, he said they are expecting thousands of casualties, to be dealing with that high number once they get into the Baghdad area. Let's take a look now at half past the hour at what the headlines are right now. For that, we go to Fredricka Whitfield.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Judy. Here are the headlines for this hour. U.S. force says they have created a ring around Baghdad, allowing them to control all roads in and out of the Iraqi Capital. By day in Baghdad, calls to prayer echoed along with gunfire. After dark, Iraqi officials imposed a curfew on civilians in the city.

Two days after the U.S. captured the Iraqi airport, the first military transport plane has landed there. And Walter Rogers reports, the coalition waited for the cover of darkness to avoid Iraqi anti- aircraft batteries still functioning near the airport. An apparent friendly fire incident near the northern city of Mosul. Kurds say a U.S. airplane attacked a convoy of Kurdish fighters, killing 18 and wounding 45. One member of the U.S. Special Forces team accompanying the Kurdish fighters was injured.

U.S. Forensics experts are offering an explanation for a mystery in Southern Iraq. A warehouse appears to have been converted into a massive morgue, containing more than 400 sets of human remains. The U.S. military team says they are from Iraq's war with Iran in the 1980s. Four days after U.S. commandos rescued her from an Iraqi hospital, 19-year-old Jessica Lynch is being reunited with her family. Her mother, father, and two siblings arrived this morning in Germany where Lynch is being treated for injuries she received when taken captive in Iraq.

Here's what you'll see coming up in our next hour: a full investigation into an apparent friendly fire incident in Northern Iraq. We will get the latest from our reporters there. Plus, the struggle to get food and water delivered in Southern Iraq. We will talk to a World Health Organization coordinator in the region, and CNN's Bill Schneider will be here with what has not happened in the war. We will look at all of those prewar predictions. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Our coverage of the war in Iraq will return in moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: With the U.S. Army south and west of Baghdad, the U.S. Marines are moving into the southeast suburbs. Going house to house, flushing out Iraqi fighters and scaring some civilians, CNN's Martin Savidge is with the First Battalion 7th Marines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: As they have for the past three days, the Marines continue to drive into the southeastern suburbs of Baghdad. And as they do, they have been encountering pockets of resistance. This is sporadic fighting that does not occur all the time, but does flare up from place to place, and they have been moving into built-up areas, and that is complicating things for the movement of the convoys.

Other units have pushed ahead, but now the 1st Battalion 7th Marines in this specific area we are at, has been tasked with the job of cleanup, trying to find where the resistance is coming from. Who is it? The search and destroy missions as they call it. The difficulty, of course, is they are now mixed in with the civilian population. Opposing forces are using that to their advantage. For the Marines, they have to be very careful now, have to be careful that they select their targets and make sure that the targets they aim at are, in fact, hostiles while the innocent civilians are not caught in the way. It is now house-to-house searches some time.

A very poignant scene at one point, the cameraman, Scott McWinny (ph) found as these Marines moved in on a house. Now, we do have translators, but not all the units have translators. They came across this one family. It's through voice and through hand gestures that they try to get them to come out of the house, and they do. But it's clear, you can tell, that the family is terrified in the presence of these Marines.

Now, the Marines also, as you may notice in this video, are keeping their weapons well away. They are not pointing them at the women and children and the men of this family, and they are trying to assure them that it's for their own safety. The Marines have been receiving fire from this specific area. They are trying to simply search in and around the home. And once that is completed, the family was allowed to return back to their house.

Meanwhile, though, in the backyards and the back alleys and the side streets, it's a different story. At times, infantry units are fired upon. They call in artillery, which is used to take out some of the heavier fortified positions of Iraqi opposition. This is the way it has gone for the past three days, and may continue like that for sometime. However, last night, a special find the First Battalion 7th Marines managed to capture three members of the special Iraqi Republican Guard. These were men that were identified because of the ID cards they had with them. They weren't wearing uniforms but did have them in the back seat of their vehicles as well as their weapons. The three men are now being interrogated and reportedly cooperating with the Marines. It is hard, difficult, dangerous work. Within the forefront of their minds, always protecting the Iraqi civilians.

Martin Savidge CNN, Southeast of Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Hard to get the image of those frightened -- the frightened faces of those women and children out of one's mind.

Well, British forces encounter a surprise along Iraqi railroad tracks. And no, it wasn't a pocket of resistance. The story of the forgotten village is still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. VINCENT BROOKS, CENTCOM: It's hot, and when it's hot, this decisions made by all commanders, probably even Iraqi commanders in this case. The weather affects everyone on the battlefield of the advantage goes to the force that is trained to deal with those weather conditions when they occur. Whether it's daytime, nighttime, rain storm. Whatever it happens to be, or even heat. So we feel confident that our forces are well prepared. They are well trained. They get better with every day's action that goes by. And the regime gets in greater and greater danger with every moment that they have chosen to remain in place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: General Vincent Brooks at Central Command this morning talking about the weather in Iraq.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

WOODRUFF: British forces face the dawning task of trying to get food and water, especially in this heat, to suffering Iraqis. Part of their challenge is simply finding the people who are in need. As Greg Milam reports, an uncharted village in Southern Iraq highlights just what the problem is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GREG MILAM, REPORTER: It is on no map of Iraq. Yet the people in this village west of the southern oil fields are in just as much need as those in many other communities. It was discovered by Royal Engineers surveying the disused railroad line. Two hundred people cut off ever since the rail service broke down two week ago. Today the water arrived. It's clear, though, that more help is needed. This man told us that what was really required was medical aid. There is no hospital no medical center in the area. He said the village had been left behind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The arrival of water supplies here has conjured up excitement (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Those who have discovered this village don't know is how many more just like it there are in Southern Iraq.

MILAM: It was obvious the bottled water was welcome. The job of getting the railway line from Umm Qasr up and running again has fallen to the Captain Fiona Steele.

FIONA STEELE, 16TH AIR ASSAULT BRIGADE: We have all the rolling stock here. We have contacts to get drivers back to work already. The railway line is key to this area (UNINTELLIGIBLE) water, because they do rely on the railway line for that, which is why we are trying to get it up an running (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

MILAM: The elders here keep a tight reign on their small community. But in the distance, they can hear the rumblings of war. The rebuilding for many in Iraq will have to wait.

Greg Milam, Southern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And when we return, some American troops killed in Iraq are being remembered today. We will visit the hometown of the first American servicewoman killed in this war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Fort Bliss, Texas continue to mourn its dead. The nine members of the 507 Maintenance Company who were killed in an ambush in Southern Iraq some two weeks ago. CNN's Ed Lavandera is with us now from Fort Bliss -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. It was exactly two weeks ago that the military community here in Fort Bliss was first learning of the ambush that claimed the lives of nine soldiers from the 507th Maintenance Company. Two of those we have known for sometime have been dead. But late Friday night others families members of those that were missing at that point missing in action learned of the fate of their loved ones that the nine of the soldiers would not be coming home to fort bliss alive. So church services here on this base, although not an official memorial service for those soldiers but definitely a very somber tone services this morning as many family members of this community coming out to church services to not only pray for the family members of the soldiers that have been lost in battle, but also for the families of the five POWs.

There are still five prisoners of war from this maintenance company. And there is a sense of hope here that prison perhaps their story will come out with a more happy ending to this. So that is what everyone here is praying for. And that is definitely the tone from this morning's church service here at Fort Bliss.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The faith community of the Diocese of El Paso joined with the Fort Bliss extended family. Praying and asking god to have mercy upon those he has called. And secondly, asking for a safe return to those sisters and brothers who are your extended, my extended brothers and sisters. And thirdly, we pray for the families, that they may be supported, the spouses, the children, grandparents, and extended families.

LAVANDERA: Wolf, now the official memorial service for the soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company will be held next Friday afternoon. Members of the public here in El Paso are also invited to attend that ceremony as well. And they say that will be an extremely emotional situation. One other note. There have been about four soldiers from the 507th Maintenance Company that were wounded in that ambush. Two of them are being treated in the Washington, D.C. area. There are also two other soldiers who have made their way back here to El Paso. The second one is scheduled to arrive here later on this afternoon. Wolf.

BLITZER: Ed Lavandera, thanks very much. He is at Fort Bliss, Texas -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Thanks, Wolf. Well, plans are underway in Washington to honor one of the members of the 507th Maintenance Company killed in Iraq. Lori Piestewa was the first American servicewoman killed in the war in Iraq and she is apparently the first Native American woman known to have lost her life in the military as a result of combat. She was remembered today during church services in her hometown of Tuba City, Arizona.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. GODDEN MENARD, ST. JUDE CHURCH: I too am proud of her, and I thank her for being willing to give her life for her country. I'm also going to tell the people that they have been praying for two weeks now, and if they have been praying in the right spirit, asking God if it's his will that she come back, that now they will be content with the fact that she's not able to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: CNN's Rusty Dornin went to Piestewa's hometown in Arizona, and she takes a closer look at this 23-year-old Army private who gave her life for her country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lori Piestewa was said to have a mind of her own. So it was no surprise to those close to her when she joined the Army. Seen here with her family gathered close before she went to Iraq, Piestewa said her biggest concern was about her two young children.

LORI PIESTEWA, U.S. ARMY: ... like, knowing that my family will be taken care of.

DORNIN: Rocked by anxiety for nearly two weeks when she was reported missing, Lori's family gathered close again, this time to mourn a woman her brother called our lady warrior.

WAYLAND PIESTEWA, BROTHER OF LORI PIESTEWA: Our family is very proud of her. We know she's our hero, as you've heard before. We are continuing to believe that. We are going hold that in our hearts forever. And she will not be forgotten.

DORNIN: Lori Piestewa grew up in searing heat of the Arizona desert. A hoping Indian sitting on the Navaho reservation here in Tuba City. People here joke that everyone in this community of 9,000 is related. So when Piestewa was reported missing, the whole town wanted to help. When her death was announced, three Tuba City residents say they wanted to celebrate Piestewa by giving the 23-year- old a "walk of life," complete with the flag she so loved. Tisha Charley was a year ahead of Piestewa in school.

(on camera): What was Lori like, even in high school?

TISHA CHARLEY, FORMER CLASSMATE: She was always energetic, she was always happy. I'll always remember that she was the happiest person that I've ever seen. She was always outgoing, supporting her friends.

DORNIN: Her friends including Jessica Lynch, her roommate at Fort Bliss. Piestewa's family even met Lynch before the two women deployed. The young soldier's body may not be returned for days, but when a gentle snow fell, as the Hopi chairman spoke to reporters, it was a sign to the Native Americans here that her spirit was not far away.

WAYNE TAYLOR, HOPI TRIBAL CHAIRMAN: In the Hopi belief, when one is deceased, they come back home. They visit the family, their community through the moisture. And this is what happened just a while ago. And so I think we were very blessed today.

DORNIN: Spontaneous memorials don't often last long here, whipped to shreds by the desert wind. But along the highway against the red rock mesa, a more permanent tribute to Lori Piestewa, one that can be seen by all those who enter and leave her hometown.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Tuba City, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman to die in the military in combat.

Jessica Lynch, who was captured by Iraqi forces in that ambush on the 507th Maintenance Company is getting a present from home, a visit with her family. Lynch's parents and brother and sister arrived today at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Lynch is at a nearby hospital where she is being treated for broken bones and other injuries.

On Wednesday, U.S. forces rescued Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriya, where she was being held. The search for inner peace in the middle of a deadly war: U.S. troops practice their faith on the frontlines. We will take you there this Sunday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The war in Iraq has brought a unique sight to the mostly Muslim land. American soldiers gathered on this Sunday morning to observe their Christian faith. CNN's Harris Whitbeck is with the U.S. Air Force in south central Iraq, and he has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fighting men and women lay down their weapons for moment of worship. The first Sunday church service to be held in this recently secured Iraqi air base in South Central Iraq. Air Force personnel here are close to the front lines. Being so close to the horrors of war, many of them look for a connection with their religious traditions.

LIESI DAVENPORT, U.S. AIR FORCE: I just think it's important. Because that's a huge link to my family as well. My family has been all religious and the times our families were together were church services, church picnics and so forth. To come for a service once a week for maybe an hour or so is definitely reminiscent of the family and what's important to me back in the States.

CHAPLAIN KLEET BARCLAY, U.S. AIR FORCE: This is our prayer. We ask for it in the holy name of Jesus Christ, amen.

WHITBECK: Chaplain Kleet Barclay's job is delicate.

BARCLAY: I seek you with all my heart. Do not let me stray from your commands.

WHITBECK: He ministers to the spiritual needs of combatants, men and women who go into battle, who in the line of duty are often forced to bring suffering upon others. Outside his makeshift chapel, I asked him about reconciling those actions on the battlefield with the biblical teachings that stress love of mankind.

BARCLAY: There are times for self-defense. There are times when justify will come about a way which aren't pleasing. So I can support that. I don't support the inhumanity of war. That's tragic. I don't want either side to suffer casualties. But sometimes you have to go about it in pretty dire ways.

WHITBECK: As the battle intensify, these men and women will only get busier. Their spiritual counselor will too.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, in south central Iraq. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Straight ahead in the next hour of live coverage. Why military planners risk urban war fair. We've will take a look at what can be gained and at what price. Plus, the hour's top headlines right after this one.

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