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Interview With Courtney, Tawny

Aired October 29, 2003 - 14:34   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, they are a closed culture, a very private world. And when they are on the front lines, their wives and families take a deep breath. We're talking about the elite faction of U.S. Navy special operations, the SEALs. Much of what they do is classified. What their wives are doing is not.
SWAT, Seal Wives Against Terrorism, made a 330 nautical mile journey from D.C. to New York, raising scholarship funds for children and families of Navy SEALs who have died during fighting in Iraq in Afghanistan.

Courtney (UNINTELLIGIBLE), her husband was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan this past June. And Tawny's a husband is currently deployed overseas. For security reasons, we're not using her last name. Both women join us from New York. We welcome you both, thank you.

First of all, Courtney, are tell us about Tom.

COURTNEY, SEAL WIVES AGAINST TERRORISM: How do you sum up -- in a couple sentences? He was a fantastic husband and my best friend. We have two beautiful boys that are his spitting image. And loved his job. He was a fantastic frogman.

PHILLIPS: What do you tell your boys about their father?

COURTNEY: Well, I think my husband did a great job in sharing himself with them on -- from the very beginning. He was someone who adored anything outside, very athletic, and had a big heart. And they knew that, because -- he was a great dad. And shared himself in a very special way with them, every moment he spent with them.

PHILLIPS: And, Tawny, just knowing what happened to Courtney's husband, Tom, and other Navy SEALs overseas, you husband now deployed what goes through your mind?

TAWNY, SEAL WIVES AGAINST TERRORISM: We have a constant fear, even when they're here, their training is so intense. Every day, you know, we worry about them, always hope they can come home safe.

PHILLIPS: Tell me why you're making this journey, why you're raising these funds.

TAWNY: We think it's important. Zodiac Maritime Training Academy gave us this great, incredible opportunity to get the word out about the scholarship funds, that the Naval Social Warfare Foundation has created so we can make sure the community is taken care of, the kids are going to school. We offer scholarships for wives.

It's very important to get the awareness out there that what people are still doing -- it's on the news constantly. And even when it's not, we need to understand and pray for those the military that's over there for us, and hope that they can take care of things for us.

PHILLIPS: We want to bring up your Web site, BulletproofTour.com. Courtney, tell me about the people you've met, how you've been received by folks as you've taken on this trip.

COURTNEY: Oh, my gosh this has been the most amazing experience. My very best friend is marry to an active duty frogman and she is on this trip as well. Some of the other women I knew as acquaintances before this trip began. And others -- we've become best friends. And it's just been a phenomenal group of women. Our old set of 71 years old and our youngest is 25.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

COURTNEY: We -- three of us are widows. Two are married to retired frogmen. The rest are married to active duty. So we have this great group of women that is a good representation of the broad spectrum of our community. And when -- when it gets really rough and we're getting knocked around on the boats, we're all laughing and smiling and having a great time.

PHILLIPS: Tell us now about these scholarships, Tawny. The money that you're raising. Who can apply for these scholarships? And what do you hope they will do with the money?

TAWNY: The wives of active duty, the wives, and also the children, we want to make sure that those funds are there for them. Of course if they're -- lost lives and -- the money -- it's just really important to know they're taken care of.

Community is real special to all of us. The foundation -- the money we're hope to raise will all go to the foundation and that's our biggest push is those scholarships funds -- make sure that they exist for the children.

PHILLIPS: And we do have that Web site. We will bring up a graphic right now, NSWNavalSpecialWarfareFoundation.org. Courtney Retzner (ph), Tawny, thank you for your time. We salute you. I had the pleasure of spending time with SEALs during the war. You women are just as brave as they are. You're very strong. I salute you.

COURTNEY: Thank you.

TAWNY: Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, ladies.

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 October 29, 2003 - 14:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, they are a closed culture, a very private world. And when they are on the front lines, their wives and families take a deep breath. We're talking about the elite faction of U.S. Navy special operations, the SEALs. Much of what they do is classified. What their wives are doing is not.
SWAT, Seal Wives Against Terrorism, made a 330 nautical mile journey from D.C. to New York, raising scholarship funds for children and families of Navy SEALs who have died during fighting in Iraq in Afghanistan.

Courtney (UNINTELLIGIBLE), her husband was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan this past June. And Tawny's a husband is currently deployed overseas. For security reasons, we're not using her last name. Both women join us from New York. We welcome you both, thank you.

First of all, Courtney, are tell us about Tom.

COURTNEY, SEAL WIVES AGAINST TERRORISM: How do you sum up -- in a couple sentences? He was a fantastic husband and my best friend. We have two beautiful boys that are his spitting image. And loved his job. He was a fantastic frogman.

PHILLIPS: What do you tell your boys about their father?

COURTNEY: Well, I think my husband did a great job in sharing himself with them on -- from the very beginning. He was someone who adored anything outside, very athletic, and had a big heart. And they knew that, because -- he was a great dad. And shared himself in a very special way with them, every moment he spent with them.

PHILLIPS: And, Tawny, just knowing what happened to Courtney's husband, Tom, and other Navy SEALs overseas, you husband now deployed what goes through your mind?

TAWNY, SEAL WIVES AGAINST TERRORISM: We have a constant fear, even when they're here, their training is so intense. Every day, you know, we worry about them, always hope they can come home safe.

PHILLIPS: Tell me why you're making this journey, why you're raising these funds.

TAWNY: We think it's important. Zodiac Maritime Training Academy gave us this great, incredible opportunity to get the word out about the scholarship funds, that the Naval Social Warfare Foundation has created so we can make sure the community is taken care of, the kids are going to school. We offer scholarships for wives.

It's very important to get the awareness out there that what people are still doing -- it's on the news constantly. And even when it's not, we need to understand and pray for those the military that's over there for us, and hope that they can take care of things for us.

PHILLIPS: We want to bring up your Web site, BulletproofTour.com. Courtney, tell me about the people you've met, how you've been received by folks as you've taken on this trip.

COURTNEY: Oh, my gosh this has been the most amazing experience. My very best friend is marry to an active duty frogman and she is on this trip as well. Some of the other women I knew as acquaintances before this trip began. And others -- we've become best friends. And it's just been a phenomenal group of women. Our old set of 71 years old and our youngest is 25.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

COURTNEY: We -- three of us are widows. Two are married to retired frogmen. The rest are married to active duty. So we have this great group of women that is a good representation of the broad spectrum of our community. And when -- when it gets really rough and we're getting knocked around on the boats, we're all laughing and smiling and having a great time.

PHILLIPS: Tell us now about these scholarships, Tawny. The money that you're raising. Who can apply for these scholarships? And what do you hope they will do with the money?

TAWNY: The wives of active duty, the wives, and also the children, we want to make sure that those funds are there for them. Of course if they're -- lost lives and -- the money -- it's just really important to know they're taken care of.

Community is real special to all of us. The foundation -- the money we're hope to raise will all go to the foundation and that's our biggest push is those scholarships funds -- make sure that they exist for the children.

PHILLIPS: And we do have that Web site. We will bring up a graphic right now, NSWNavalSpecialWarfareFoundation.org. Courtney Retzner (ph), Tawny, thank you for your time. We salute you. I had the pleasure of spending time with SEALs during the war. You women are just as brave as they are. You're very strong. I salute you.

COURTNEY: Thank you.

TAWNY: Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, ladies.

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