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Army Captain Back in Iraq After Foot Amputation

Aired April 18, 2005 - 13:36   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: Right now in the news, he failed to show up for work today, and Pennsylvania police say they have no leads in the disappearance of district attorney Ray Gricar. Gricar was last seen Friday and a search of his car has failed to indicate any clues. Gricar's brother, Roy Gricar, vanished under similar circumstances in Ohio in 1996. It was later ruled that he had killed himself.
Is the golden boy of cycling ready to hit the brakes? Well, Lance Armstrong is due to make what's billed as a don't-miss statement in a couple of hours, and it's expected he'll say this year's Tour De France will be his last. Armstrong, whose won a record six times in a row, is under contract to compete one more time in cycling's most prestigious race.

An Army captain who lost his right foot in the Iraq war is back on duty. Captain David Rozelle is the first troop commander in recent history to return to the same battlefield as an amputee. He's written a book about his experiences. He came on and talked to us about that book, and now he joins us on the phone from Baghdad to tell us how it's going.

Can you hear me okay, David?

CAPTAIN DAVID ROZELLE, U.S. ARMY: Hi, Kyra. How are you?

PHILLIPS: Great to hear your voice. You know you promised that you would call us when you were back in country. Tell us how you're doing and how it's been so far and how long you've been there?

ROZELLE: I'm doing great. I've been here a little under a month, approaching the month mark, and basically just spent the month establishing ourselves here and recreating the force we need to conduct our mission.

Personally, it's been a great experience. Obviously, you know, I'm learn about my new self and my new leg. I kind of worried about it, of course, as I wrote about in the book. But now I'm here, I'm back in action and I'm having a great experience.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about that for a minute. When you first were deployed and went overseas, tell me what was going through your mind at that point and how your thinking, or maybe what's -- just the way you've looked at this mission now, going back a second time as an amputee, what's different? Was it easier to go back, harder to go back?

ROZELLE: Well, I think it was harder to come back. It would have been the same injured or not. Saying good-bye to my wife and now new son, so that makes it very difficult to leave home, but to actually.

But actually to deploy as an amputee, I have to admit, I really didn't notice a difference until we got into (INAUDIBLE) as I go out to train I would have to make adjustments and plan ahead for different things for my prosthetic needs, but I really didn't notice a difference in anything I had to do to command, and that's really the key piece is, can I command and continue to do my job as an amputee with a prosthetic device in the war? And the answer so far is yes, you know, up here, conducting day-to-day operations in a pretty austere environment, I really haven't had any problems, of course, you know, except for fatiguing and things like that, which, I think (INAUDIBLE) carrying around an extra 10 pounds on his leg.

PHILLIPS: Your satellite phone is crackling just a little bit. It sounded like your biggest challenge has been during training. What type -- what has been the most challenging part? Obviously, your duties have not been difficult for you, but what part of the training has been hard?

ROZELLE: Well, I mean, you know, to test these prosthetic devices, when you pack a load -- you know, I'm a 200-pound man and then I add a 60-pound protective jacket and all my equipment on top of that, I'm pushing my prosthetic to its limit and testing to see if it can handle it.

And so far, it can, but I just have to plan ahead and be prepared, keep an extra foot in my rucksack and I keep some extra prosthetic socks in my rucksack and always ready to stop and do a little maintenance on myself, just like any other man would to powder his feet.

PHILLIPS: Of course. A little preventive maintenance. How have the other soldiers reacted to you, David? I know that you wanted to go back and you didn't want anybody to treat you any differently. Has that been hard for fellow soldiers, or is it just as tough as it was in the beginning?

ROZELLE: Well, I don't think my soldiers really understood what it meant for me to come back until they read my book, and I'm proud to say that most of them have and have been touched by it, because they really didn't realize what these servicemen and women were going through to try to be (INAUDIBLE).

And then to come back and prove it. To be the first has been really -- it's been an extra burden on me, because I want to succeed. You know, I try to get up every morning and continue to run and exercise and then walk all day. And, you know, I'm really testing and challenging myself here.

PHILLIPS: Have you had a chance to interact with Iraqis there in country and been able to talk with them and -- I'm just curious. I mean, just throwing it out there, besides your fellow soldiers, but what about the people there in Iraq? ROZELLE: Yes. I've actually given a few autographs. I guess they get "People" magazine here and I've been thrown a couple of copies of that by people who recognize me to get signed. But, you know, I really want to stay unrecognized here in Iraq, because I want to be treated the same as any other soldier.

PHILLIPS: Captain David Rozelle, you're an inspiration to all of us. Looking at a picture, actually, of you and your wife right there. And I hear your new son is doing very well. The book, of course, is "Back in Action." If you haven't read it, David's truly an example of what every soldier should be. David Rozelle, thank you so much.

ROZELLE: Hey, thank you for having me. I'll let you know when I'm back.

PHILLIPS: Look forward to it.

Straight ahead, a couple hoping for a child may have hit the jackpot. A surrogate mom could be bringing them five times the joy. Find out how this could happen. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, two Arizona women could have quite a mother's day. One desperately wants a baby, the other is helping her realize that dreams, times five, could come true. Here's CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta on a possible fertility first.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Luisa Gonzalez and her husband Enrique Moreno tried for nine years to have a baby. When their efforts failed, they sought out the services of a surrogate. They found Teresa Anderson.

Last September, doctors harvested eggs from Luisa, fertilized them with her husband's sperm and implanted five embryos into Teresa's uterus. She says they told her there was a one in three chance that one would take, but as she went through a series of ultrasounds, she was in for a shock.

TERESA ANDERSON, SURROGATE MOTHER: I understood there was a small chance one could take, so having five take is kind of extraordinary.

ENRIQUE MORENO, BIOLOGICAL FATHER OF QUINTS: We'll never know how these things happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were shocked, stunned. They had to take a seat and then they said thank you and I started crying at the time. I think we all did. It was very, heartful moment.

GUPTA: Quintuplets are incredibly rare. In 2002, there were only 69 sets born, but higher order multiples are more common with in vitro fertilization and IBF has grown in popularity since the first successful case in 1981. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, by 2002, more than 45,000 births resulted from advanced reproductive technology such as IBF and fertility drugs. 548 of those were born to surrogate mothers.

Gonzalez and Moreno face the future with five new mouths to feed and massive medical bills. One of the babies is already showing signs of a heart condition. So Teresa says she decided to forego her promised $15,000 fee.

ANDERSON: Well, Luisa and I became friends and Enrique -- became friends over the course of the time, and considering the extreme circumstances, you know, we're not well off by any means, but we know how much it is to care for children. And having two of our own, we just thought that it could be something that we could help them out, because it's going to be so expensive for everything. It's five children to be responsible for and we know how big of an issue that is.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it was bound to happen. A chicken breast said to bare the resemblance to the late Pope John Paul II is for sale on eBay. An Illinois college student obviously has nothing better to do, but he says he got it for lunch at his dorm. And right now, it's going for about $150. The bidding ends on Thursday. What do you think? Does it look like the pope? I think it looks disgusting.

Anyway, looking for a new house? Check out CNN interactive Web site for four questions you should ask before making the leap. CNN's Veronica De La Cruz has more on what CNN.com's spring home guide can teach you about real estate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Home buying, it's high season in the spring. But before you jump on the home buyer's bandwagon, log on to CNNmoney.com's 2005 Ultimate Home Guide. First off, ask yourself these four questions, why do you want to buy a house? Can you afford it? What's the cost of renting? Are you ready to make that commitment?

Once you've decided that buying a home is for you and you've found the perfect one, ask yourself this, does the neighborhood make the grade? That old wisdom to buy where the schools are good is true now more than ever.

Another tip, take a good look at who's working for you. Don't rely on the luck of the draw. Before you shop for a house, shop for an agent. And how much house can you afford? To arrive at an affordable price, this calculator follows the guidelines of most lenders. Are you wondering how much your mortgage will be? Punch in the numbers and find out.

Finally, do you want to live like a millionaire? This interactive gallery shows you what $1 million will get you across the nation.

Happy hunting from the dot-com newsdesk in Atlanta and Veronica De La Cruz.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, coming up in the second hour of LIVE FROM, while the world waits for the naming of a new pope, some bookies are working the odds. A LIVE FROM look at the papal horse race, coming up.

But first, tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. As part of CNN of anniversary series "Then and Now," we take a look back at one of the survivors of the bombing and find out where he is today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On an April day, impossible to forget, an image of a man burned into our memory. A survivor moving slowly down the ladder out of the open sore of the Oklahoma City federal building. Brian Espe worked for the USDA on the fifth floor. That morning he heard a rumble and then a sickening silence.

BRIAN ESPE, BOMBING SURVIVOR: I don't know how long after the rumbling stopped and the thing stopped falling when I looked around, I was seeing the sky.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: His rescue came more than an hour later. A fire fight had to talk him down a very long ladder.

ESPE: I'm deathly afraid of heights. And that's why I came down that ladder in a more unconventional way, facing out.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Espe never did look back at building. He didn't know the true scope of the devastation until he saw it later on the television. Of the 10 people on the fifth floor that day, search seven died.

ESPE: My life has gone on since that day, and I still think of it, I think of the people we lost, but I don't dwell on it.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Espe recently retired from the USDA and moved from Oklahoma City to Arkansas. He has five children and 11 grandchildren, and he and his wife Evelyn recently celebrated their 50th anniversary. Espe remains in contact with Mark Mollman (ph), the firefighter.

ESPE: Thank God for Mark, because he talked me down that ladder every step of the way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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 18, 2005 - 13:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Right now in the news, he failed to show up for work today, and Pennsylvania police say they have no leads in the disappearance of district attorney Ray Gricar. Gricar was last seen Friday and a search of his car has failed to indicate any clues. Gricar's brother, Roy Gricar, vanished under similar circumstances in Ohio in 1996. It was later ruled that he had killed himself.
Is the golden boy of cycling ready to hit the brakes? Well, Lance Armstrong is due to make what's billed as a don't-miss statement in a couple of hours, and it's expected he'll say this year's Tour De France will be his last. Armstrong, whose won a record six times in a row, is under contract to compete one more time in cycling's most prestigious race.

An Army captain who lost his right foot in the Iraq war is back on duty. Captain David Rozelle is the first troop commander in recent history to return to the same battlefield as an amputee. He's written a book about his experiences. He came on and talked to us about that book, and now he joins us on the phone from Baghdad to tell us how it's going.

Can you hear me okay, David?

CAPTAIN DAVID ROZELLE, U.S. ARMY: Hi, Kyra. How are you?

PHILLIPS: Great to hear your voice. You know you promised that you would call us when you were back in country. Tell us how you're doing and how it's been so far and how long you've been there?

ROZELLE: I'm doing great. I've been here a little under a month, approaching the month mark, and basically just spent the month establishing ourselves here and recreating the force we need to conduct our mission.

Personally, it's been a great experience. Obviously, you know, I'm learn about my new self and my new leg. I kind of worried about it, of course, as I wrote about in the book. But now I'm here, I'm back in action and I'm having a great experience.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about that for a minute. When you first were deployed and went overseas, tell me what was going through your mind at that point and how your thinking, or maybe what's -- just the way you've looked at this mission now, going back a second time as an amputee, what's different? Was it easier to go back, harder to go back?

ROZELLE: Well, I think it was harder to come back. It would have been the same injured or not. Saying good-bye to my wife and now new son, so that makes it very difficult to leave home, but to actually.

But actually to deploy as an amputee, I have to admit, I really didn't notice a difference until we got into (INAUDIBLE) as I go out to train I would have to make adjustments and plan ahead for different things for my prosthetic needs, but I really didn't notice a difference in anything I had to do to command, and that's really the key piece is, can I command and continue to do my job as an amputee with a prosthetic device in the war? And the answer so far is yes, you know, up here, conducting day-to-day operations in a pretty austere environment, I really haven't had any problems, of course, you know, except for fatiguing and things like that, which, I think (INAUDIBLE) carrying around an extra 10 pounds on his leg.

PHILLIPS: Your satellite phone is crackling just a little bit. It sounded like your biggest challenge has been during training. What type -- what has been the most challenging part? Obviously, your duties have not been difficult for you, but what part of the training has been hard?

ROZELLE: Well, I mean, you know, to test these prosthetic devices, when you pack a load -- you know, I'm a 200-pound man and then I add a 60-pound protective jacket and all my equipment on top of that, I'm pushing my prosthetic to its limit and testing to see if it can handle it.

And so far, it can, but I just have to plan ahead and be prepared, keep an extra foot in my rucksack and I keep some extra prosthetic socks in my rucksack and always ready to stop and do a little maintenance on myself, just like any other man would to powder his feet.

PHILLIPS: Of course. A little preventive maintenance. How have the other soldiers reacted to you, David? I know that you wanted to go back and you didn't want anybody to treat you any differently. Has that been hard for fellow soldiers, or is it just as tough as it was in the beginning?

ROZELLE: Well, I don't think my soldiers really understood what it meant for me to come back until they read my book, and I'm proud to say that most of them have and have been touched by it, because they really didn't realize what these servicemen and women were going through to try to be (INAUDIBLE).

And then to come back and prove it. To be the first has been really -- it's been an extra burden on me, because I want to succeed. You know, I try to get up every morning and continue to run and exercise and then walk all day. And, you know, I'm really testing and challenging myself here.

PHILLIPS: Have you had a chance to interact with Iraqis there in country and been able to talk with them and -- I'm just curious. I mean, just throwing it out there, besides your fellow soldiers, but what about the people there in Iraq? ROZELLE: Yes. I've actually given a few autographs. I guess they get "People" magazine here and I've been thrown a couple of copies of that by people who recognize me to get signed. But, you know, I really want to stay unrecognized here in Iraq, because I want to be treated the same as any other soldier.

PHILLIPS: Captain David Rozelle, you're an inspiration to all of us. Looking at a picture, actually, of you and your wife right there. And I hear your new son is doing very well. The book, of course, is "Back in Action." If you haven't read it, David's truly an example of what every soldier should be. David Rozelle, thank you so much.

ROZELLE: Hey, thank you for having me. I'll let you know when I'm back.

PHILLIPS: Look forward to it.

Straight ahead, a couple hoping for a child may have hit the jackpot. A surrogate mom could be bringing them five times the joy. Find out how this could happen. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, two Arizona women could have quite a mother's day. One desperately wants a baby, the other is helping her realize that dreams, times five, could come true. Here's CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta on a possible fertility first.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Luisa Gonzalez and her husband Enrique Moreno tried for nine years to have a baby. When their efforts failed, they sought out the services of a surrogate. They found Teresa Anderson.

Last September, doctors harvested eggs from Luisa, fertilized them with her husband's sperm and implanted five embryos into Teresa's uterus. She says they told her there was a one in three chance that one would take, but as she went through a series of ultrasounds, she was in for a shock.

TERESA ANDERSON, SURROGATE MOTHER: I understood there was a small chance one could take, so having five take is kind of extraordinary.

ENRIQUE MORENO, BIOLOGICAL FATHER OF QUINTS: We'll never know how these things happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were shocked, stunned. They had to take a seat and then they said thank you and I started crying at the time. I think we all did. It was very, heartful moment.

GUPTA: Quintuplets are incredibly rare. In 2002, there were only 69 sets born, but higher order multiples are more common with in vitro fertilization and IBF has grown in popularity since the first successful case in 1981. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, by 2002, more than 45,000 births resulted from advanced reproductive technology such as IBF and fertility drugs. 548 of those were born to surrogate mothers.

Gonzalez and Moreno face the future with five new mouths to feed and massive medical bills. One of the babies is already showing signs of a heart condition. So Teresa says she decided to forego her promised $15,000 fee.

ANDERSON: Well, Luisa and I became friends and Enrique -- became friends over the course of the time, and considering the extreme circumstances, you know, we're not well off by any means, but we know how much it is to care for children. And having two of our own, we just thought that it could be something that we could help them out, because it's going to be so expensive for everything. It's five children to be responsible for and we know how big of an issue that is.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it was bound to happen. A chicken breast said to bare the resemblance to the late Pope John Paul II is for sale on eBay. An Illinois college student obviously has nothing better to do, but he says he got it for lunch at his dorm. And right now, it's going for about $150. The bidding ends on Thursday. What do you think? Does it look like the pope? I think it looks disgusting.

Anyway, looking for a new house? Check out CNN interactive Web site for four questions you should ask before making the leap. CNN's Veronica De La Cruz has more on what CNN.com's spring home guide can teach you about real estate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Home buying, it's high season in the spring. But before you jump on the home buyer's bandwagon, log on to CNNmoney.com's 2005 Ultimate Home Guide. First off, ask yourself these four questions, why do you want to buy a house? Can you afford it? What's the cost of renting? Are you ready to make that commitment?

Once you've decided that buying a home is for you and you've found the perfect one, ask yourself this, does the neighborhood make the grade? That old wisdom to buy where the schools are good is true now more than ever.

Another tip, take a good look at who's working for you. Don't rely on the luck of the draw. Before you shop for a house, shop for an agent. And how much house can you afford? To arrive at an affordable price, this calculator follows the guidelines of most lenders. Are you wondering how much your mortgage will be? Punch in the numbers and find out.

Finally, do you want to live like a millionaire? This interactive gallery shows you what $1 million will get you across the nation.

Happy hunting from the dot-com newsdesk in Atlanta and Veronica De La Cruz.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, coming up in the second hour of LIVE FROM, while the world waits for the naming of a new pope, some bookies are working the odds. A LIVE FROM look at the papal horse race, coming up.

But first, tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. As part of CNN of anniversary series "Then and Now," we take a look back at one of the survivors of the bombing and find out where he is today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On an April day, impossible to forget, an image of a man burned into our memory. A survivor moving slowly down the ladder out of the open sore of the Oklahoma City federal building. Brian Espe worked for the USDA on the fifth floor. That morning he heard a rumble and then a sickening silence.

BRIAN ESPE, BOMBING SURVIVOR: I don't know how long after the rumbling stopped and the thing stopped falling when I looked around, I was seeing the sky.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: His rescue came more than an hour later. A fire fight had to talk him down a very long ladder.

ESPE: I'm deathly afraid of heights. And that's why I came down that ladder in a more unconventional way, facing out.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Espe never did look back at building. He didn't know the true scope of the devastation until he saw it later on the television. Of the 10 people on the fifth floor that day, search seven died.

ESPE: My life has gone on since that day, and I still think of it, I think of the people we lost, but I don't dwell on it.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Espe recently retired from the USDA and moved from Oklahoma City to Arkansas. He has five children and 11 grandchildren, and he and his wife Evelyn recently celebrated their 50th anniversary. Espe remains in contact with Mark Mollman (ph), the firefighter.

ESPE: Thank God for Mark, because he talked me down that ladder every step of the way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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