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USS Abraham Lincoln Headed Home

Aired April 21, 2003 - 15:46   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it spent more time in the Persian Gulf than any other carrier. And now the USS Abraham Lincoln is headed home. Not only did I have the opportunity to be embedded on this ship before and during the war with Iraq, but I had the unique opportunity to get the know the men and women of Abe and the sacrifices they made for family, friends and their country.
One such sailor is Commander Paul Haas, commanding officer of VF- 31 (ph) the Tomcatters, the F-14 strike fighter pilots that carried out Operation Iraqi Freedom. The skipper had a lot of patience with me, specifically when I called him at 3:40 in the morning the day the war started, asking him far too many questions.

He joins me by phone aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. I guess you could say this is perfect timing for us. It's about 3:00 in the morning your time. Right, commander?

CMDR. PAUL HAAS, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Yes, ma'am, it sure is. It's just like old times.

PHILLIPS: There we go. So here you are, skipper. You're headed home. It was almost a year that you were out at sea. Tell me how you continue continually motivated your guys throughout this entire operation.

P. HAAS: Well, ma'am, it was actually fairly easy. The professionalism, and I think the gravity of what everybody was doing, wasn't lost on any single individual. It was very easy to keep them focused on the job at hand. The hard part is right now, when the homecoming looms and it just doesn't seem like we can get the ship moving fast enough to get us back home.

PHILLIPS: I can just imagine. What do you think, looking back, has been the most memorable moment for you?

P. HAAS: I would say the teamwork aspect of it, both in our unit, as well as the ship in the air wing, how we all came together as a team and were able to pull off the mission. As well as working with all the forces there in theater. It was really something to see.

PHILLIPS: Well that night of Shock and Awe, I remember how you briefed your squadron. Let's take a listen to what you had to say that night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) P. HAAS: And we're always talking about a lot of lights, a lot of explosion. Don't get mesmerized by that. Focus on what you need to do.

We're all, each and every one of us, extremely good at what it is that we do, what we do. We train very, very well all our careers, whether that's 18 years or six for this. And you guys are going to do great up there. Don't get blinded by the lights, OK? Don't do the Teletubby on us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Skipper, what were the lessons learned from that night and the days following?

P. HAAS: It was exactly as we expected. There was a determined enemy response to what we were trying to do out there. We needed to do fly our best and be at our best and be as prepared as we could be for any possible contingency weather threat, our own aircraft sometimes. Those were the things we needed to do look out for.

PHILLILPS: Well, meanwhile, looking out for all the wives, family, and friends back home, your wife, Kelly Ann Haas, the brains behind the outfit is what the commander tells me, Kelly Ann. How are you feeling right now, now that your husband is on his way home?

KELLY ANN HAAS, CMDR. HAAS'S WIFE: I just -- I'm so extremely excited, very happy. I'm extremely, extremely proud for what not only he, but all the guys have done out there. All the troops as well.

They are doing something larger than themselves, and larger than any of us. And I'm extremely proud of him. And I just, you know -- I just can't stand the excitement. I'm ready for him to come home.

PHILLIPS: Well, Kelly Ann, as a skipper's wife you took on the responsibility of organizing so many support groups for the Navy wives and the families. Tell me about that. Tell me what you had to do and the responsibility that you took on to try to keep everybody thinking in a real positive manner.

K. HAAS: Well, you know, basically, I'm kind of like the social coordinator. I just try to do as much as I can to keep everybody's spirits up. We try to have gatherings as much as possible, doing fun things, as well as organizing things to send out to the guys to keep their morale up as well. And, you know, being there for serious situations.

We had gals that had babies, people had lost loved ones. And just making sure that we're there for everybody. And that they know that they have somebody to call and come to is the most important thing. And that support is the biggest thing to both Paul and myself.

And it's easy to do when you care about what they're doing and you know what they're doing is an incredibly important thing to do. And it actually makes it easy to do. But it's been a long time, and I'm just very ready for them to come home. PHILLIPS: Well, meanwhile, your boys -- you tell me that your husband's missed out on a lot of inches taller, a lot of good grades in school. We're looking at some pictures of the boys right now. Dad is quite a hero to them, isn't he?

K. HAAS: He is absolutely their hero. He is their rock. He is their football player in the backyard. He is, you know, their algebra teacher. And he's all of our hero.

And my son said it really well yesterday. He said that, "You know, we can get by without dad. We don't need him to survive. But we need him because he we miss him and we love him and we love what he completes this family." He is the missing puzzle to this family, and we look so forward to completing that puzzle when he gets back.

PHILLIPS: Well, I know that's how your husband feels about you, Kelly Ann. Anything you want to say to him while we have you two hooked up here?

K. HAAS: Well, I guess if this is national TV, I'd like to say you're the greatest hero I will ever know in my life. I am extremely proud of you for the human being that you are, and I am probably the luckiest girl in the world to have you as my husband.

PHILLIPS: Commander, your final thoughts to your wife?

P. HAAS: Wow, she can have the checkbook after all. That's an awesome endorsement. But I, you know, miss you honey. I love you. I can't wait to get -- I'm all excited to get back there as quick as we can.

PHILLIPS: Oh. Commander Paul Haas and Kelly Ann Haas, we're so glad we had the chance to connect you two. We salute you both for what you did overseas and at home. We look forward to the homecoming. Thank you both so much.

K. HAAS: Thank you.

P. HAAS: Thank you, ma'am.

PHILLIPS: All right.

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 April 21, 2003 - 15:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it spent more time in the Persian Gulf than any other carrier. And now the USS Abraham Lincoln is headed home. Not only did I have the opportunity to be embedded on this ship before and during the war with Iraq, but I had the unique opportunity to get the know the men and women of Abe and the sacrifices they made for family, friends and their country.
One such sailor is Commander Paul Haas, commanding officer of VF- 31 (ph) the Tomcatters, the F-14 strike fighter pilots that carried out Operation Iraqi Freedom. The skipper had a lot of patience with me, specifically when I called him at 3:40 in the morning the day the war started, asking him far too many questions.

He joins me by phone aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. I guess you could say this is perfect timing for us. It's about 3:00 in the morning your time. Right, commander?

CMDR. PAUL HAAS, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Yes, ma'am, it sure is. It's just like old times.

PHILLIPS: There we go. So here you are, skipper. You're headed home. It was almost a year that you were out at sea. Tell me how you continue continually motivated your guys throughout this entire operation.

P. HAAS: Well, ma'am, it was actually fairly easy. The professionalism, and I think the gravity of what everybody was doing, wasn't lost on any single individual. It was very easy to keep them focused on the job at hand. The hard part is right now, when the homecoming looms and it just doesn't seem like we can get the ship moving fast enough to get us back home.

PHILLIPS: I can just imagine. What do you think, looking back, has been the most memorable moment for you?

P. HAAS: I would say the teamwork aspect of it, both in our unit, as well as the ship in the air wing, how we all came together as a team and were able to pull off the mission. As well as working with all the forces there in theater. It was really something to see.

PHILLIPS: Well that night of Shock and Awe, I remember how you briefed your squadron. Let's take a listen to what you had to say that night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) P. HAAS: And we're always talking about a lot of lights, a lot of explosion. Don't get mesmerized by that. Focus on what you need to do.

We're all, each and every one of us, extremely good at what it is that we do, what we do. We train very, very well all our careers, whether that's 18 years or six for this. And you guys are going to do great up there. Don't get blinded by the lights, OK? Don't do the Teletubby on us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Skipper, what were the lessons learned from that night and the days following?

P. HAAS: It was exactly as we expected. There was a determined enemy response to what we were trying to do out there. We needed to do fly our best and be at our best and be as prepared as we could be for any possible contingency weather threat, our own aircraft sometimes. Those were the things we needed to do look out for.

PHILLILPS: Well, meanwhile, looking out for all the wives, family, and friends back home, your wife, Kelly Ann Haas, the brains behind the outfit is what the commander tells me, Kelly Ann. How are you feeling right now, now that your husband is on his way home?

KELLY ANN HAAS, CMDR. HAAS'S WIFE: I just -- I'm so extremely excited, very happy. I'm extremely, extremely proud for what not only he, but all the guys have done out there. All the troops as well.

They are doing something larger than themselves, and larger than any of us. And I'm extremely proud of him. And I just, you know -- I just can't stand the excitement. I'm ready for him to come home.

PHILLIPS: Well, Kelly Ann, as a skipper's wife you took on the responsibility of organizing so many support groups for the Navy wives and the families. Tell me about that. Tell me what you had to do and the responsibility that you took on to try to keep everybody thinking in a real positive manner.

K. HAAS: Well, you know, basically, I'm kind of like the social coordinator. I just try to do as much as I can to keep everybody's spirits up. We try to have gatherings as much as possible, doing fun things, as well as organizing things to send out to the guys to keep their morale up as well. And, you know, being there for serious situations.

We had gals that had babies, people had lost loved ones. And just making sure that we're there for everybody. And that they know that they have somebody to call and come to is the most important thing. And that support is the biggest thing to both Paul and myself.

And it's easy to do when you care about what they're doing and you know what they're doing is an incredibly important thing to do. And it actually makes it easy to do. But it's been a long time, and I'm just very ready for them to come home. PHILLIPS: Well, meanwhile, your boys -- you tell me that your husband's missed out on a lot of inches taller, a lot of good grades in school. We're looking at some pictures of the boys right now. Dad is quite a hero to them, isn't he?

K. HAAS: He is absolutely their hero. He is their rock. He is their football player in the backyard. He is, you know, their algebra teacher. And he's all of our hero.

And my son said it really well yesterday. He said that, "You know, we can get by without dad. We don't need him to survive. But we need him because he we miss him and we love him and we love what he completes this family." He is the missing puzzle to this family, and we look so forward to completing that puzzle when he gets back.

PHILLIPS: Well, I know that's how your husband feels about you, Kelly Ann. Anything you want to say to him while we have you two hooked up here?

K. HAAS: Well, I guess if this is national TV, I'd like to say you're the greatest hero I will ever know in my life. I am extremely proud of you for the human being that you are, and I am probably the luckiest girl in the world to have you as my husband.

PHILLIPS: Commander, your final thoughts to your wife?

P. HAAS: Wow, she can have the checkbook after all. That's an awesome endorsement. But I, you know, miss you honey. I love you. I can't wait to get -- I'm all excited to get back there as quick as we can.

PHILLIPS: Oh. Commander Paul Haas and Kelly Ann Haas, we're so glad we had the chance to connect you two. We salute you both for what you did overseas and at home. We look forward to the homecoming. Thank you both so much.

K. HAAS: Thank you.

P. HAAS: Thank you, ma'am.

PHILLIPS: All right.

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