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American Morning
Celebrating Thanksgiving at Bagram
Aired November 28, 2002 - 07:43 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to U.S. troops in Afghanistan this morning. Military officials say an American soldier is recovering, and he's in stable condition after being wounded yesterday in a sniper attack. And even though they're far from home, the troops are celebrating his recovery and also celebrating Thanksgiving.
Our Diana Muriel is there.
Good morning to you.
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Carol.
Yes, a very warm Bagram base here. It's been another very hot, very dusty day at the U.S. base in Bagram, about an hour's drive north of Kabul.
That soldier that you just referred to, he'll be arriving here on the base in about 25 minutes. He was operated on last night, we understand, following that sniper attack. He sustained a gunshot wound to his upper left thigh, but we understand he's in stable condition, nothing life-threatening. He'll be coming back to Bagram, where he'll be looked after here.
So, the base here still in a state of very high security alert, as always. But most soldiers here, the 7,000 troops and support personnel, thinking about Thanksgiving today. They've been treated to the most fantastic feast by the kitchen staff here at Bagram. They're about to start eating in the evening. It's now 5:00, just on 5:00 in the evening, and the second sitting is about to come in.
They're consuming something in the region of 3,000 pounds of turkey, about 6,000 pounds of ham, 7,000 pounds of corn bread stuffing, not to mention 300 odd pecan pies.
It's been a great celebration here. Everyone very much in the Thanksgiving spirit.
Back to you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Before you go, I just want to ask you about this, the attack that happened in Kenya in Mombasa. Are the troops aware of that? And are they aware that some are accusing al Qaeda for the attack?
MURIEL: That's right, they are. The news is starting to ripple around the base. We're just getting these reports coming in about this, and the word is starting to spread. Much concern here about what this means.
Of course, Special Forces here in Afghanistan from the various U.S. bases at Bagram and in Kandahar are engaged in forward-position missions. They have been coming across caches of arms and ammunitions right around the country, and they've been engaging with the remnants of Taliban and al Qaeda.
So, a lot of concern here amongst the troops. I have been passing on bits of information that we've been getting from CNN, and people are switching on their radios, switching on their TVs to get all of the information they can -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I can only imagine. Diana Muriel, thanks, and happy Thanksgiving Day to you.
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 November 28, 2002 - 07:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to U.S. troops in Afghanistan this morning. Military officials say an American soldier is recovering, and he's in stable condition after being wounded yesterday in a sniper attack. And even though they're far from home, the troops are celebrating his recovery and also celebrating Thanksgiving.
Our Diana Muriel is there.
Good morning to you.
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Carol.
Yes, a very warm Bagram base here. It's been another very hot, very dusty day at the U.S. base in Bagram, about an hour's drive north of Kabul.
That soldier that you just referred to, he'll be arriving here on the base in about 25 minutes. He was operated on last night, we understand, following that sniper attack. He sustained a gunshot wound to his upper left thigh, but we understand he's in stable condition, nothing life-threatening. He'll be coming back to Bagram, where he'll be looked after here.
So, the base here still in a state of very high security alert, as always. But most soldiers here, the 7,000 troops and support personnel, thinking about Thanksgiving today. They've been treated to the most fantastic feast by the kitchen staff here at Bagram. They're about to start eating in the evening. It's now 5:00, just on 5:00 in the evening, and the second sitting is about to come in.
They're consuming something in the region of 3,000 pounds of turkey, about 6,000 pounds of ham, 7,000 pounds of corn bread stuffing, not to mention 300 odd pecan pies.
It's been a great celebration here. Everyone very much in the Thanksgiving spirit.
Back to you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Before you go, I just want to ask you about this, the attack that happened in Kenya in Mombasa. Are the troops aware of that? And are they aware that some are accusing al Qaeda for the attack?
MURIEL: That's right, they are. The news is starting to ripple around the base. We're just getting these reports coming in about this, and the word is starting to spread. Much concern here about what this means.
Of course, Special Forces here in Afghanistan from the various U.S. bases at Bagram and in Kandahar are engaged in forward-position missions. They have been coming across caches of arms and ammunitions right around the country, and they've been engaging with the remnants of Taliban and al Qaeda.
So, a lot of concern here amongst the troops. I have been passing on bits of information that we've been getting from CNN, and people are switching on their radios, switching on their TVs to get all of the information they can -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I can only imagine. Diana Muriel, thanks, and happy Thanksgiving Day to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
