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3rd Infantry Division Prepares to Return Home
Aired May 26, 2003 - 15:43 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: There is no place like home on a holiday like today. Some troops in Baghdad are spending the day getting ready to come home.
CNN's Matthew Chance is with the 3rd Infantry Division as they pack their bags. Some happy troops over there. Hello Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well hello to you as well, Miles. They'll be even happier when they get the order, finally, to go home. When they get those dates fixed. Their understanding at the moment is that order will come through eventually but at the moment they're playing a very long and hard waiting game.
We're joined here by Staff Sergeant -- Staff Sergeant William Hogue -- I forgot your name for a moment there. But here he is with us now. He was in the unit that was one of the first if not the first -- in fact the first unit that went into Baghdad on March the 5th.
It is Memorial Day here Sergeant Hogue -- so many people going home, big scenes of celebration with Marines going back. What are your thoughts on his Memorial Day?
STAFF SGT. WILLIAM HOGUE, TASK FORCE 1--64: My thoughts are just reflecting on coming up here, soldiers that were injured, and also killed in action while coming up here. And also just kind of thinking about our families.
CHANCE: Yes, you've been away from home for -- what -- over eight months now?
HOGUE: Yes, about eight months.
CHANCE: Started off in Kuwait and just take us through the kind of -- you know -- situations that you experienced during this conflict?
HOGUE: A lot of driving, coming up here, we made contact just outside of An Najaf -- and that's when we first saw casualties for the medical (UNINTELLIGIBLE) itself where we ended up taking about six causalities from the enemy side and treating them and eventually MEDVACing them about a day later. And then coming into Baghdad that's where we really saw our first causalities and we actually lost one of our family members, I would say, out of the unit.
CHANCE: And you've been away for eight months as we've been saying, is it -- what's the thing that you missed the most about -- about going home -- about home?
HOGUE: My wife and kids. And also probably porcelain toilets.
CHANCE: I'm sure that's a sentiment shared by everyone here. Thank you very much Sergeant Hogue for joining us here on CNN.
There you have it Miles, a day where people are quite frustrated, to say the least, amongst this 3rd Infantry Division because they've been away for so long that they want to go home and hand over the role that they've been fulfilling here in Baghdad, a role that has changed from major combat operations which are basically come to an end to more of a peacekeeping one and an attempt to impose greater security on this the Iraqi capital.
O'BRIEN: No shortage of frustration in Baghdad. Matthew Chance, 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 May 26, 2003 - 15:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: There is no place like home on a holiday like today. Some troops in Baghdad are spending the day getting ready to come home.
CNN's Matthew Chance is with the 3rd Infantry Division as they pack their bags. Some happy troops over there. Hello Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well hello to you as well, Miles. They'll be even happier when they get the order, finally, to go home. When they get those dates fixed. Their understanding at the moment is that order will come through eventually but at the moment they're playing a very long and hard waiting game.
We're joined here by Staff Sergeant -- Staff Sergeant William Hogue -- I forgot your name for a moment there. But here he is with us now. He was in the unit that was one of the first if not the first -- in fact the first unit that went into Baghdad on March the 5th.
It is Memorial Day here Sergeant Hogue -- so many people going home, big scenes of celebration with Marines going back. What are your thoughts on his Memorial Day?
STAFF SGT. WILLIAM HOGUE, TASK FORCE 1--64: My thoughts are just reflecting on coming up here, soldiers that were injured, and also killed in action while coming up here. And also just kind of thinking about our families.
CHANCE: Yes, you've been away from home for -- what -- over eight months now?
HOGUE: Yes, about eight months.
CHANCE: Started off in Kuwait and just take us through the kind of -- you know -- situations that you experienced during this conflict?
HOGUE: A lot of driving, coming up here, we made contact just outside of An Najaf -- and that's when we first saw casualties for the medical (UNINTELLIGIBLE) itself where we ended up taking about six causalities from the enemy side and treating them and eventually MEDVACing them about a day later. And then coming into Baghdad that's where we really saw our first causalities and we actually lost one of our family members, I would say, out of the unit.
CHANCE: And you've been away for eight months as we've been saying, is it -- what's the thing that you missed the most about -- about going home -- about home?
HOGUE: My wife and kids. And also probably porcelain toilets.
CHANCE: I'm sure that's a sentiment shared by everyone here. Thank you very much Sergeant Hogue for joining us here on CNN.
There you have it Miles, a day where people are quite frustrated, to say the least, amongst this 3rd Infantry Division because they've been away for so long that they want to go home and hand over the role that they've been fulfilling here in Baghdad, a role that has changed from major combat operations which are basically come to an end to more of a peacekeeping one and an attempt to impose greater security on this the Iraqi capital.
O'BRIEN: No shortage of frustration in Baghdad. Matthew Chance, 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
