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American Morning

Hometown Hero

Aired February 03, 2003 - 08:47   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get you now quickly to Amarillo, Texas. That's the hometown of Colonel Rick Husband, the commander onboard Columbia. There have been countless people coming forward in the past 48 hours to talk about his life and what he means to the people in his hometown.
Elizabeth Cohen now with two of Colonel Husband's very close friends.

Elizabeth, good morning to you.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: I can tell you Rick Husband means so much to the people here in Amarillo, Texas. We're here at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. The reason why we chose this particular restaurant is that in 1999, when Commander Husband came back from his first shuttle, this is where he chose to have his gala celebration. He invited the entire crew, and they came here, and then they presented this card to the restaurant.

You can see a picture of Commander Husband right here. He's with the entire crew, and he's holding up a sign that says "space speed limit 17500." He has a smile on his face, and what everyone here in Amarillo will tell you is that he always had a smile on his face.

We're here now with the mayor of Amarillo, Texas, Trent Sizemore, and with Ben Moore, who was the principal at Amarillo High School when Rick graduated in 1975.

Mr. Mayor, let's start with you, what would you like to tell the country about Commander Husband?

MYR. TRENT SIZEMORE, AMARILLO, TEXAS: I would just tell the country that we in this city, this community are very proud of commander husband and all of the astronauts onboard STS-107, and that he was a man of character, a man who loved the Lord, and a man who loved his wife, Evelyn, and two wonderful children, and a man who loved this country.

COHEN: And you were speaking with Evelyn Husband just last week.

SIZEMORE: Yes, we were. We were actually planning a celebratory time for all of the space shuttle crew of STS-107 to come to our city and be in our schools, and just have a time and, of course, now, that will eventually be a memorial time, but we'll still celebrate Commander Husband's life and the lives of the braves men and women on that space shuttle flight.

COHEN: Great. Thank you, thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Ben Moore, who is the principal at Amarillo High School, when you think back to the years when you were the principal and Rick was a student there, what was he like as a young man?

BEN MOORE, PRINCIPAL, AMARILLO HIGH SCHOOL: A very, very outgoing, pleasant young man, a good student in all subjects, very well-liked by both faculty and students, very outstanding in the sciences, as you would expect, and mathematics, and it's interesting that he also had a keen interest in music, vocal music, and drama.

He was in our (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Coral (ph), which is the top choir, for the two years he was there, had leading roles in high school productions. I can remember two, "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Man of La Mancha," and he had a lead play -- or a role in a one-act play which went into state competition. And this is so unusual to have someone cross over from the sciences into music and drama, but this is the kind of person that Rick was. He was well-rounded and just a tremendous young man.

COHEN: Well, thank you. Thank you, Ben Moore and Trent Sizemore, thank you for helping us remember Rick Husband.

Bill, everybody, when they talk about Rick Husband, even though they're obviously grieving, they have a smile on their face, because they remember that Rick Husband always had a smile on his face -- Bill.

HEMMER: And certainly died doing something he absolutely loved to do, one of countless stories to come.

Thanks, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Cohen in Amarillo, Texas this morning.

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 February 3, 2003 - 08:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get you now quickly to Amarillo, Texas. That's the hometown of Colonel Rick Husband, the commander onboard Columbia. There have been countless people coming forward in the past 48 hours to talk about his life and what he means to the people in his hometown.
Elizabeth Cohen now with two of Colonel Husband's very close friends.

Elizabeth, good morning to you.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: I can tell you Rick Husband means so much to the people here in Amarillo, Texas. We're here at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. The reason why we chose this particular restaurant is that in 1999, when Commander Husband came back from his first shuttle, this is where he chose to have his gala celebration. He invited the entire crew, and they came here, and then they presented this card to the restaurant.

You can see a picture of Commander Husband right here. He's with the entire crew, and he's holding up a sign that says "space speed limit 17500." He has a smile on his face, and what everyone here in Amarillo will tell you is that he always had a smile on his face.

We're here now with the mayor of Amarillo, Texas, Trent Sizemore, and with Ben Moore, who was the principal at Amarillo High School when Rick graduated in 1975.

Mr. Mayor, let's start with you, what would you like to tell the country about Commander Husband?

MYR. TRENT SIZEMORE, AMARILLO, TEXAS: I would just tell the country that we in this city, this community are very proud of commander husband and all of the astronauts onboard STS-107, and that he was a man of character, a man who loved the Lord, and a man who loved his wife, Evelyn, and two wonderful children, and a man who loved this country.

COHEN: And you were speaking with Evelyn Husband just last week.

SIZEMORE: Yes, we were. We were actually planning a celebratory time for all of the space shuttle crew of STS-107 to come to our city and be in our schools, and just have a time and, of course, now, that will eventually be a memorial time, but we'll still celebrate Commander Husband's life and the lives of the braves men and women on that space shuttle flight.

COHEN: Great. Thank you, thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Ben Moore, who is the principal at Amarillo High School, when you think back to the years when you were the principal and Rick was a student there, what was he like as a young man?

BEN MOORE, PRINCIPAL, AMARILLO HIGH SCHOOL: A very, very outgoing, pleasant young man, a good student in all subjects, very well-liked by both faculty and students, very outstanding in the sciences, as you would expect, and mathematics, and it's interesting that he also had a keen interest in music, vocal music, and drama.

He was in our (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Coral (ph), which is the top choir, for the two years he was there, had leading roles in high school productions. I can remember two, "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Man of La Mancha," and he had a lead play -- or a role in a one-act play which went into state competition. And this is so unusual to have someone cross over from the sciences into music and drama, but this is the kind of person that Rick was. He was well-rounded and just a tremendous young man.

COHEN: Well, thank you. Thank you, Ben Moore and Trent Sizemore, thank you for helping us remember Rick Husband.

Bill, everybody, when they talk about Rick Husband, even though they're obviously grieving, they have a smile on their face, because they remember that Rick Husband always had a smile on his face -- Bill.

HEMMER: And certainly died doing something he absolutely loved to do, one of countless stories to come.

Thanks, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Cohen in Amarillo, Texas this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com