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Saddam Hussein Captured: Disbelief at Ft. Hood

Aired December 15, 2003 - 15:22   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: Yesterday at military bases all across this great land of ours, there was a collective hoo-ah (ph). You probably could hear it, as word filtered back that Saddam Hussein was in U.S. hands. Now where was it felt more than at the 4th I.D.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. It's home to the soldiers who captured the brutal dictator.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guess what? They caught Saddam.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even around Ft. Hood, Texas...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They caught him.

LAVANDERA: ... home of the 4th Infantry Division...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early this morning they caught him.

LAVANDERA: ... the news didn't sink in right away. Some had to really spell it out for their friends.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saddam! Yeah, turn on the news.

LAVANDERA: Saddam Hussein's capture didn't make the Sunday newspapers, but television and word of mouth made sure everyone found out fast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning. They caught Saddam.

LAVANDERA: Inside Ft. Hood, thousands of soldiers were taking part in a 24-hour military exercise. Many said they didn't believe the news at first. They thought it was just part of the training scenario.

LT. GEN. THOMAS METZ, FORT HOOD, TEXAS: My aide came in and said, "Sir, down in the joint operations center we're working, the capture of Saddam Hussein." And I said, "Fine, thank you very much." And I asked my aide, "Is this game play, or is this real?" Thinking his answer was going to be, game play. And it was real.

LAVANDERA: There were eruptions of celebration across the post. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well at first I didn't believe it. I just rolled over and went to sleep. But I got out, everybody's in the hallway like yelling and doing stupid stuff.

LAVANDERA: When Saddam's haggard face appeared on television, former prisoner of war David Williams couldn't help but smile. Williams spent a month in Iraqi custody after his helicopter was shut down. He says it's a fitting ending to Saddam Hussein's life on the run, a man who once enjoyed living in luxury found sharing a hole in the ground with rats.

CWO DAVID WILLIAMS, FMR. IRAQI POW: If you remember correctly, that's the way I looked when I came out of captivity. So he did get a taste of his own medicine. And it made me feel good inside.

LAVANDERA (on camera): More than 16,000 soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division have been deployed in Iraq since March. In those 10 months of duty, 41 soldiers from that group have died. A reminder, many here say, that capturing the ace of spades has come at a high price.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Ft. Hood, Texas.








MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yesterday at military bases all across this great land of ours, there was a collective hoo-ah (ph). You probably could hear it, as word filtered back that Saddam Hussein was in U.S. hands. Now where was it felt more than at the 4th I.D.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. It's home to the soldiers who captured the brutal dictator.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guess what? They caught Saddam.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even around Ft. Hood, Texas...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They caught him.

LAVANDERA: ... home of the 4th Infantry Division...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early this morning they caught him.

LAVANDERA: ... the news didn't sink in right away. Some had to really spell it out for their friends.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saddam! Yeah, turn on the news.

LAVANDERA: Saddam Hussein's capture didn't make the Sunday newspapers, but television and word of mouth made sure everyone found out fast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning. They caught Saddam.

LAVANDERA: Inside Ft. Hood, thousands of soldiers were taking part in a 24-hour military exercise. Many said they didn't believe the news at first. They thought it was just part of the training scenario.

LT. GEN. THOMAS METZ, FORT HOOD, TEXAS: My aide came in and said, "Sir, down in the joint operations center we're working, the capture of Saddam Hussein." And I said, "Fine, thank you very much." And I asked my aide, "Is this game play, or is this real?" Thinking his answer was going to be, game play. And it was real.

LAVANDERA: There were eruptions of celebration across the post.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well at first I didn't believe it. I just rolled over and went to sleep. But I got out, everybody's in the hallway like yelling and doing stupid stuff.

LAVANDERA: When Saddam's haggard face appeared on television, former prisoner of war David Williams couldn't help but smile. Williams spent a month in Iraqi custody after his helicopter was shut down. He says it's a fitting ending to Saddam Hussein's life on the run, a man who once enjoyed living in luxury found sharing a hole in the ground with rats.

CWO DAVID WILLIAMS, FMR. IRAQI POW: If you remember correctly, that's the way I looked when I came out of captivity. So he did get a taste of his own medicine. And it made me feel good inside.

LAVANDERA (on camera): More than 16,000 soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division have been deployed in Iraq since March. In those 10 months of duty, 41 soldiers from that group have died. A reminder, many here say, that capturing the ace of spades has come at a high price.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Ft. Hood, Texas.

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 December 15, 2003 - 15:22   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yesterday at military bases all across this great land of ours, there was a collective hoo-ah (ph). You probably could hear it, as word filtered back that Saddam Hussein was in U.S. hands. Now where was it felt more than at the 4th I.D.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. It's home to the soldiers who captured the brutal dictator.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guess what? They caught Saddam.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even around Ft. Hood, Texas...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They caught him.

LAVANDERA: ... home of the 4th Infantry Division...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early this morning they caught him.

LAVANDERA: ... the news didn't sink in right away. Some had to really spell it out for their friends.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saddam! Yeah, turn on the news.

LAVANDERA: Saddam Hussein's capture didn't make the Sunday newspapers, but television and word of mouth made sure everyone found out fast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning. They caught Saddam.

LAVANDERA: Inside Ft. Hood, thousands of soldiers were taking part in a 24-hour military exercise. Many said they didn't believe the news at first. They thought it was just part of the training scenario.

LT. GEN. THOMAS METZ, FORT HOOD, TEXAS: My aide came in and said, "Sir, down in the joint operations center we're working, the capture of Saddam Hussein." And I said, "Fine, thank you very much." And I asked my aide, "Is this game play, or is this real?" Thinking his answer was going to be, game play. And it was real.

LAVANDERA: There were eruptions of celebration across the post. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well at first I didn't believe it. I just rolled over and went to sleep. But I got out, everybody's in the hallway like yelling and doing stupid stuff.

LAVANDERA: When Saddam's haggard face appeared on television, former prisoner of war David Williams couldn't help but smile. Williams spent a month in Iraqi custody after his helicopter was shut down. He says it's a fitting ending to Saddam Hussein's life on the run, a man who once enjoyed living in luxury found sharing a hole in the ground with rats.

CWO DAVID WILLIAMS, FMR. IRAQI POW: If you remember correctly, that's the way I looked when I came out of captivity. So he did get a taste of his own medicine. And it made me feel good inside.

LAVANDERA (on camera): More than 16,000 soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division have been deployed in Iraq since March. In those 10 months of duty, 41 soldiers from that group have died. A reminder, many here say, that capturing the ace of spades has come at a high price.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Ft. Hood, Texas.








MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yesterday at military bases all across this great land of ours, there was a collective hoo-ah (ph). You probably could hear it, as word filtered back that Saddam Hussein was in U.S. hands. Now where was it felt more than at the 4th I.D.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. It's home to the soldiers who captured the brutal dictator.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guess what? They caught Saddam.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even around Ft. Hood, Texas...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They caught him.

LAVANDERA: ... home of the 4th Infantry Division...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early this morning they caught him.

LAVANDERA: ... the news didn't sink in right away. Some had to really spell it out for their friends.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saddam! Yeah, turn on the news.

LAVANDERA: Saddam Hussein's capture didn't make the Sunday newspapers, but television and word of mouth made sure everyone found out fast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning. They caught Saddam.

LAVANDERA: Inside Ft. Hood, thousands of soldiers were taking part in a 24-hour military exercise. Many said they didn't believe the news at first. They thought it was just part of the training scenario.

LT. GEN. THOMAS METZ, FORT HOOD, TEXAS: My aide came in and said, "Sir, down in the joint operations center we're working, the capture of Saddam Hussein." And I said, "Fine, thank you very much." And I asked my aide, "Is this game play, or is this real?" Thinking his answer was going to be, game play. And it was real.

LAVANDERA: There were eruptions of celebration across the post.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well at first I didn't believe it. I just rolled over and went to sleep. But I got out, everybody's in the hallway like yelling and doing stupid stuff.

LAVANDERA: When Saddam's haggard face appeared on television, former prisoner of war David Williams couldn't help but smile. Williams spent a month in Iraqi custody after his helicopter was shut down. He says it's a fitting ending to Saddam Hussein's life on the run, a man who once enjoyed living in luxury found sharing a hole in the ground with rats.

CWO DAVID WILLIAMS, FMR. IRAQI POW: If you remember correctly, that's the way I looked when I came out of captivity. So he did get a taste of his own medicine. And it made me feel good inside.

LAVANDERA (on camera): More than 16,000 soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division have been deployed in Iraq since March. In those 10 months of duty, 41 soldiers from that group have died. A reminder, many here say, that capturing the ace of spades has come at a high price.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Ft. Hood, Texas.

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