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American Morning

Members of Army's 75th Ranger Regiment Arriving Back Home

Aired December 07, 2001 - 07:17   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: They were the first U.S. forces to be deployed in Afghanistan. This morning, members of the army's 75th Ranger Regiment are arriving back home. They were given a hero's welcome earlier this morning at Fort Bening, Georgia. The soldiers are being reunited with their families after nearly two months on the front lines.

One Ranger who returned over this past weekend joins me now. His name is Lieutenant Jim Hathaway. Welcome home.

LT. JIM HATHAWAY, U.S. ARMY RANGER: Thank you. It's good to be home.

ZAHN: Have you adjusted to life in America?

HATHAWAY: Yes, it's nice and it's good to get back, especially for the holidays. It was really nice to see my wife again.

ZAHN: I know that a military spokesperson has confirmed that you and your regimen actually arrived in Afghanistan on October 19th. What can you tell us about what your mission was over there?

HATHAWAY: Actually, it was just one of our standard missions, airfield seizures. And we went in, did what we were told to do and assigned to do and did it very well accomplished our mission and then we came back.

ZAHN: Describe to us some of the challenges you were up against weather wise. Did the wind and the sand present some problems for you?

HATHAWAY: Well, obviously in the desert you're going to have the blowing sand. So that did cause somewhat of a problem, but it's nothing that we couldn't overcome and it's nothing that the training that we've had has helped us deal with. We were able to do what we were assigned to do.

ZAHN: I know obviously you were carrying out a mission you were trained to do. At what point did you feel that you and your fellow comrades were in the greatest danger?

HATHAWAY: No matter what you do, even in training, you're always going to be in some threat of danger. That's the nature of our business. But it's with as much training as we do, we overcome those fears and you really don't think about it at that time.

ZAHN: Tell us about the little, the mission of the Black Hawks, the helicopters in use over there.

HATHAWAY: I'm sorry, could you say that again, please?

ZAHN: Yes, describe to us exactly what the Black Hawk helicopters were doing.

HATHAWAY: The Black Hawk helicopters are basically a platform for us to move around and they are our transportation to put us onto the ground where we need to be.

ZAHN: You unfortunately lost some of your fellow soldiers in a Black Hawk accident. Describe to us the impact that had on all of you.

HATHAWAY: Well, obviously any deaths that we would have are going to be an impact. But they, as you talk to their families and you talk to the soldiers and the Rangers here, they know that what we were doing was right and it was good. And unfortunately it was an accident that did happen. But it's not something that we can sit back and dwell on and continue to hurt ourselves about. We've got to pick up, continue on with the mission and accomplish what we've been assigned to do.

ZAHN: And Lieutenant, you made it quite clear how happy you are to be home with your family on the holidays.

HATHAWAY: Yes.

ZAHN: And you know that the polls suggest that the American public is very much behind this war on terrorism. Any message you want to leave your fellow Americans with this morning about the importance of this mission that you are a part of?

HATHAWAY: Actually, I'd like to say thank you. What we've seen on the news has been great. This outcry of support from the American public has made all of us feel very, very good.

ZAHN: Well, we certainly respect your commitment to protecting our country and we hope you and your family have a wonderful reunion. Happy holidays.

HATHAWAY: You, too. Thank you.

ZAHN: Lieutenant Hathaway.

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