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American Morning
Impact of September 11 Felt in America's Heartland
Aired March 11, 2002 - 09:54 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: Take you back to South Lawn of the White House, where the Presidential Honor Guard is making way its way toward the podium where the president is expected to speak in just about 10 minutes or, actually, a little less than that.
And, for the first time, you have top White House aides conceding that the president's "axis of evil" speech in January, irked some coalition partners, who felt the president had opened a perilous new front in the war in terror without consulting them. And to mend those fences, the White House will highlight coalition partners' contributions at this six-month commemoration.
And now, a response from America's heartland. In addition to the over 300 firemen lost at the World Trade Center, the New York Fire Department lost dozens of emergency vehicles and fire engines. Well, since the attacks, workers at the country's largest builder of fire trucks, Pierce Manufacturing Company, have responded in their own way.
And CNN's Jeff Flock is standing by in Appleton, Wisconsin. He joins us now. Good morning, Jeff.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, good morning to you. Perhaps, you see over my shoulder, "Honoring America's Heroes." This is the business end of a fire truck. This is where they make them, here. Appleton, Wisconsin. I'm with John Rangelovic (ph), who's the president of the company. You're responding by sending this one behind us off to New York, yes?
JOHN RANGELOVIC, PRES., PIERCE MANUFACTURING CO.: Yes, we are. This unit will be ready in early April. It's a custom air and light unit that is being built specifically to the specifications of the New York Fire Department.
FLOCK: They've got a lot of stuff to replace back out there.
RANGELOVIC: Yes, they do.
FLOCK: John, I appreciate it. I want to get to some of your folks that are work -- at work here. Chad, I see you putting a flag on an engine. I see a lot of that these days.
CHAD, PIERCE MANUFACTURING EMPLOYEE: Yes, sir. We've been putting these on just about every truck that goes out of there lately.
FLOCK: Did that happen before September 11th?
CHAD: No. I've put more flags on in the last six months than I have five years prior to this, so...
FLOCK: I want also to get people who had a direct impact on what happened in New York. Pat, you were somebody who went from here and volunteered in New York, yes? What was that experience like?
PAT, PIERCE MANUFACTURING EMPLOYEE: It was a very rewarding experience to be able to help people financially. Assist them in their situations that they've been out there.
FLOCK: How do you feel six months later?
PAT: It's a great opportunity, and it's a real rewarding experience and I feel really -- real good about it.
FLOCK: I want to get to some people, you know, talking about firefighters. A lot of people that work here are themselves firefighters. You're, what, a chief somewhere, yes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, in a township about 12 miles west of here.
FLOCK: As a firefighter, what goes through your mind today? Do you feel safer today than you did before September 11th?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Before September 11th, I used to really never thought of what could happen, and these days, I guess, precautions are taken and the training that they're advancing. It's -- it's a safer world, I guess, a little bit.
FLOCK: OK. We hope so. One last note, and that is, this man I was talking to about patriotism. You have better sense of that these days?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I think everyone is more respectful to the flag nowadays. I have daughters that go to school at Greeneville Elementary, a Catholic school in Greeneville. And they send letters and stuff to military -- try to support them and what they're doing.
FLOCK; Do you support perhaps escalating military action in places like Iraq?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I think that's a very good thing. Yes, I would support that.
FLOCK: OK. Paula, that's the latest from the nation's heartland. Impacts all over. It happened largely in the East, but certainly it hit at the nation's heart. Back to you.
ZAHN: Certainly reflected there this morning. Thanks, Jeff.
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