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Sailors Reunited With Families After Months in the Gulf

Aired April 25, 2003 - 14:09   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: A long sail home -- it's been an anxious, arduous journey for hundreds of American sailors. They're back on terra firma, as we showed you in the last hour.
The USS Mobile Bay and the USS Shiloh docked in San Diego after nearly 10 months at sea, an historic deployment.

CNN's David Mattingly is dockside, and he's been covering, in the midst of these emotional moments here.

David, for a moment there, I was thinking these poor people, we should let them go on and reunite themselves, but it didn't seem like they minded too much talking to you.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's such a celebratory atmosphere right now. Everyone very happy to talk with us. Particularly, there were five fathers onboard the USS Mobile whose children were born here after they deployed.

One of them here with me right now. Andy Baxter (ph), a helicopter pilot from onboard. You've come home and here's your daughter waiting for you, your daughter Mia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's precious, absolutely precious. I've seen a lot of pictures of her, digital pictures, since we've been gone on cruise, but to be able to see her in person is just such an amazing feeling.

MATTINGLY: And you told me something about yourselves. The two of you both come from Navy families.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do.

MATTINGLY: Now, this is something I found very unusual, Miles. Now, you were born while your father was at sea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I think I was about two months old, and it was here in San Diego, and he was on a carrier, and I have pictures in my scrapbook of him meeting me for the first time.

She's tired.

MATTINGLY: Well, knowing that your mother had to go through that when you were born, did it help you when you were pregnant? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes. Because she understands and offers a support that most people can't, I guess, and her advice, and she's -- she's been -- I'm a little sidetracked with my daughter crying on my arm. But she didn't have any e-mail or digital pictures or anything, and so when I think about that, I think we have -- at least we have those things. It makes it easier.

MATTINGLY: Right. And your daughter was born in late December, about the same time you were having to turn around and go back. That must have been especially hard for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was difficult. At the time we were turned around, we were supposed to be home in about three more weeks. She was only about a week old at that point, so I was looking at hopefully seeing my daughter only a month old, and now she's four months old.

MATTINGLY: Now, I noticed when the ship came in that someone was playing very loudly Barry White, "You're My First, My Last, My Everything." Who decided to do that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, the captain polled the crew, and the crew had a lot of suggestions as far as different songs that they wanted to play, and he had a lot of ideas as well, and it came together, and they played kind of a mixture of everybody's.

MATTINGLY: Well, it was a real special moment there, and I imagine the words are ringing true for so many people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely. Absolutely.

MATTINGLY: Welcome home. Best of luck to you. Thank you very much.

And Miles, we have one more family here. Now, I saw this sign, welcome home Ski Gadon (ph), and, could you see it from the ship as you were coming in?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir. I was looking around and I saw the sign and I was emotional at first. And I'm glad I'm home. We were out there for nine months.

MATTINGLY: Now, we're told that when sailor's come under the Coronado Bridge, that's when they feel like they're home. Was it better for you when you saw the sign?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir. Definitely, it's better for me, and I know there's no returning back. We're definitely home this time, unlike last time, we had to go back again, you know.

MATTINGLY: Now, tell me about your daughter. How has she changed in the last nine months?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Big change. Although I usually call him. Now she's a little bigger. Nine months definitely a long time. And she's taller. She lost a tooth. And she is a little bit smarter. MATTINGLY: Can you smile for us? Can we see where -- there it is. Well, dad, when you saw that smile, I guess it was quite a sight for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, definitely. I can't -- there's -- I can't explain the feeling, you know, it's really emotion.

MATTINGLY: I understand. Do you have any plans for your husband now that he's home? Any special chores, anything like that he's got to get to?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I guess he needs to help me with the house chores and help my daughter with her assignments every night.

MATTINGLY: Yes, forget about all those Navy duties. Let's get back to sweeping and cooking and taking care of the house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely. I'll do that.

MATTINGLY: Welcome home. Thank you very much -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, David Mattingly. Break out the Barry White and the bubbly, San Diego, they're home. As you watch them come home, be sure to visit our special section of our Web site "Heroes of War," and there you'll find profiles and stories of personal sacrifice and so many of the amazing U.S. troops, the stories they have to tell.

All that and more at CNN.COM. The AOL keyword is CNN.

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 25, 2003 - 14:09   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A long sail home -- it's been an anxious, arduous journey for hundreds of American sailors. They're back on terra firma, as we showed you in the last hour.
The USS Mobile Bay and the USS Shiloh docked in San Diego after nearly 10 months at sea, an historic deployment.

CNN's David Mattingly is dockside, and he's been covering, in the midst of these emotional moments here.

David, for a moment there, I was thinking these poor people, we should let them go on and reunite themselves, but it didn't seem like they minded too much talking to you.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's such a celebratory atmosphere right now. Everyone very happy to talk with us. Particularly, there were five fathers onboard the USS Mobile whose children were born here after they deployed.

One of them here with me right now. Andy Baxter (ph), a helicopter pilot from onboard. You've come home and here's your daughter waiting for you, your daughter Mia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's precious, absolutely precious. I've seen a lot of pictures of her, digital pictures, since we've been gone on cruise, but to be able to see her in person is just such an amazing feeling.

MATTINGLY: And you told me something about yourselves. The two of you both come from Navy families.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do.

MATTINGLY: Now, this is something I found very unusual, Miles. Now, you were born while your father was at sea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I think I was about two months old, and it was here in San Diego, and he was on a carrier, and I have pictures in my scrapbook of him meeting me for the first time.

She's tired.

MATTINGLY: Well, knowing that your mother had to go through that when you were born, did it help you when you were pregnant? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes. Because she understands and offers a support that most people can't, I guess, and her advice, and she's -- she's been -- I'm a little sidetracked with my daughter crying on my arm. But she didn't have any e-mail or digital pictures or anything, and so when I think about that, I think we have -- at least we have those things. It makes it easier.

MATTINGLY: Right. And your daughter was born in late December, about the same time you were having to turn around and go back. That must have been especially hard for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was difficult. At the time we were turned around, we were supposed to be home in about three more weeks. She was only about a week old at that point, so I was looking at hopefully seeing my daughter only a month old, and now she's four months old.

MATTINGLY: Now, I noticed when the ship came in that someone was playing very loudly Barry White, "You're My First, My Last, My Everything." Who decided to do that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, the captain polled the crew, and the crew had a lot of suggestions as far as different songs that they wanted to play, and he had a lot of ideas as well, and it came together, and they played kind of a mixture of everybody's.

MATTINGLY: Well, it was a real special moment there, and I imagine the words are ringing true for so many people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely. Absolutely.

MATTINGLY: Welcome home. Best of luck to you. Thank you very much.

And Miles, we have one more family here. Now, I saw this sign, welcome home Ski Gadon (ph), and, could you see it from the ship as you were coming in?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir. I was looking around and I saw the sign and I was emotional at first. And I'm glad I'm home. We were out there for nine months.

MATTINGLY: Now, we're told that when sailor's come under the Coronado Bridge, that's when they feel like they're home. Was it better for you when you saw the sign?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir. Definitely, it's better for me, and I know there's no returning back. We're definitely home this time, unlike last time, we had to go back again, you know.

MATTINGLY: Now, tell me about your daughter. How has she changed in the last nine months?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Big change. Although I usually call him. Now she's a little bigger. Nine months definitely a long time. And she's taller. She lost a tooth. And she is a little bit smarter. MATTINGLY: Can you smile for us? Can we see where -- there it is. Well, dad, when you saw that smile, I guess it was quite a sight for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, definitely. I can't -- there's -- I can't explain the feeling, you know, it's really emotion.

MATTINGLY: I understand. Do you have any plans for your husband now that he's home? Any special chores, anything like that he's got to get to?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I guess he needs to help me with the house chores and help my daughter with her assignments every night.

MATTINGLY: Yes, forget about all those Navy duties. Let's get back to sweeping and cooking and taking care of the house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely. I'll do that.

MATTINGLY: Welcome home. Thank you very much -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, David Mattingly. Break out the Barry White and the bubbly, San Diego, they're home. As you watch them come home, be sure to visit our special section of our Web site "Heroes of War," and there you'll find profiles and stories of personal sacrifice and so many of the amazing U.S. troops, the stories they have to tell.

All that and more at CNN.COM. The AOL keyword is CNN.

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