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American Morning

Interview with Brian Ackerman, National Guardsman, New Parent

Aired April 23, 2002 - 07:52   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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: We are now going to meet a gentleman who gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "active duty." National Guardsman Brian Ackerman is a flight nurse, stationed in Afghanistan. He was on a stopover in Turkey when he got word that his wife was going into labor in Pennsylvania.

Stay with us now as we follow Ackerman's great adventure. Here is the first stop. He jumped a plane from the air force base in Adana and flew to Istanbul, Turkey. In Istanbul, he caught another plane, flew to New York City. Once in New York, he grabbed a flight to Cincinnati, Ohio -- more about this in a moment. Once in Cincinnati, he grabbed another flight, backtracked to Philadelphia, got in there just after midnight, jumped in an airport limo, raced to a suburban home in West Chester, Pennsylvania, got in about 1:40 a.m., ran into the house, grabbed his car keys, jumped in his car and ten minutes later was at Chester County Hospital, still in his fatigues, threw on some scrubs, raced into the delivery room, seconds -- literally seconds before his daughter, Catherine Hope (ph), was born.

The proud parents, Brian Ackerman and his wife, Laura, and the baby all join us this morning from their home in Pennsylvania -- welcome and congratulations.

BRIAN ACKERMAN, NEW PARENT: Thank you.

CAFFERTY: Was there any point, Brian, at which you thought there is no way I am going to make this? I mean, this has to be stress to the tenth power.

B. ACKERMAN: Well, what was interesting was when I landed at JFK, I called Laura and said, I'm home. I'm back in the United States. And that was about 5:00 p.m. And Laura said, "Take your time, don't worry about it, everything is fine." And supposedly about midnight, Laura started going into active labor.

So I truly had no clue that this was actually taking place until I got back home at about 1:40 in the morning and got a telephone call from my commanding officer, Colonel Snyder (ph), who said, "Brian, you need to get to the hospital right away. Laura is having an emergency C-section. You need to get moving." And I tried to find my car keys at that time and wasn't able to find them, because you know, having not been home in six months, I had no clue where my wife put them.

CAFFERTY: Where they were -- sure. It's that classic story of the guy racing out of the house to go to the delivery room and leaving his wife behind, because his mind is a bowl of spaghetti at that point. Laura, do you remember your reaction when he rushed into the delivery room? Or were you preoccupied to the point where you paid no attention at all? And having gone through this four times, I know it could be either one.

LAURA ACKERMAN, NEW PARENT: Actually, they had me prepped for the C-section, and so I was really paying attention to the doctor and never heard Brian come into the OR at all. And actually they had actually done the incision, and they were taking Catherine (ph) out of me at the time, and then I felt something on my shoulder, and I turned and it was Brian.

CAFFERTY: Do you remember what you thought at that moment? I mean, it must have been something else.

L. ACKERMAN: Well, I think I was trying to figure out whether it was really real or not.

CAFFERTY: Right. Or whether it was the medication, right? You were hallucinating.

L. ACKERMAN: Yes, exactly.

CAFFERTY: Does the baby's middle name, Hope, have anything to do with all of this? I am just curious.

B. ACKERMAN: Yes, it does. We found out that Laura was pregnant prior to the week of September 11. And when President Bush came on television and started talking about military action against the Taliban and al Qaeda, my unit we figured was going to be one of the first to go out the door to Afghanistan. And Laura said you are not leaving this country until you find out -- until we have names, a boy and girl.

And we were trying to figure out a name that was fitting for the time, and Hope for us kind of fits everything that took place on September 11, because to us, she represents a hope for the future and for all mankind. So that's how she ended up with the name, Catherine Hope.

CAFFERTY: Excellent. Are you on your way back overseas anytime soon, Brian?

B. ACKERMAN: We don't know what the outcome is going to be. My whole unit came home April 3, so all 10 of us are actually back in the United States now waiting for reassignment, which we are not sure where we are going to go, but we are prepared to go wherever the federal government needs us.

CAFFERTY: Well, congratulations to you and to your wife, Laura, and to Catherine Hope (ph) on her arrival. I am glad she held off until dad got there to see her. And, Brian, just a word of thanks on behalf of all of us for what you and your colleagues have been doing overseas on behalf of this country for the last several months. We appreciate your efforts very much, and we wish your new family all the best.

B. ACKERMAN: Thank you. It's really good to have the support of the American people. Family and friends have been wonderful. And even people we don't know have been gracious enough to send us a lot of cards. Girl Scout cookies have been wonderful, and we appreciate everything the American people have done for all of the troops overseas.

CAFFERTY: All right. Thank you very much -- Brian and Laura Ackerman and Catherine Hope (ph) joining us this morning from Pennsylvania.

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