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American Morning

EP-3 Surveillance Plane Crew Members Receive Medals

Aired May 18, 2001 - 09:08   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Now to our other top story this morning. They were detained for 11 days in China and hailed as heroes. This morning, the military honors the crew members from the crippled Navy spy plane that landed on China's Hainan Island.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve joins us now from Andrews Air Force Base where the ceremony will take place next hour.

Jeanne, good morning.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.

A month and a half after their ordeal, their collision off the Chinese coast, their harrowing landing on Hainan Island and their 11 days in Chinese captivity, this crew will be officially designated American heroes as they are decorated by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Hugh Shelton. That ceremony will take place in about an hour.

This morning, the crew was at the White House where they were greeted by President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. The president welcomed them and thanked them for a job well done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Welcome to the Oval Office. I -- the vice president and I are thrilled to be able to look you in the eye and say thanks for your service to the country. I remember my phone call saying, gosh, I hope -- I hope I can welcome you to the Oval Office and here you are.

It is -- you handled yourselves with such class and dignity, it was important for our nation to realize the fine caliber of people that serve our country. And we're really proud of you. We appreciate your mission. But most of all, we appreciate your character. And so it's my honor to welcome you here. I look forward to giving you a tour around this majestic office -- a shrine to the greatness of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: And George W. Bush told the crew that he was still working on getting their plane back from China where it remains on the ground on Hainan Province. In about an hour's time, Lieutenant Shane Osborn, who was the pilot of the EP-3, will receive the Distinguished Flying Cross. This, one of the military's top honors. You will recall that at one point he gave the order -- he prepared the crew to ditch the plane, but he was able to bring it down safely. People say a great tribute to his skill as a pilot, also to his brute strength. Also, he and crewman Senior Chief Nicholas Mellos will receive the Meritorious Service Medal and the other 22 members of the crew will receive the Air Medal.

I want to point out to you that behind me on the tarmac is an EP- 3. This one also based in Whidbey Island. People here tell me it is very likely that this plane also has flown surveillance flights off the coast of China. This is here at Andrews Air Force Base, the day of the Joint Services Open House. After the ceremony this morning, the EP-3 will be rolled over where there are scores of other aircraft. The public will be able to look at it, not go inside because it is full of all that super secret equipment, and some members of the crew will be here to answer the public's questions.

Once again, that ceremony will begin at about 10:00 a.m. and at 11:00, we'll be talking with Lieutenant Shane Osborn -- back to you, Leon.

HARRIS: All right. Thank you, Jeanne.

And, folks, we will have live coverage of that ceremony once it gets underway next hour.

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