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American Morning
Serving the Soldiers
Aired February 13, 2003 - 09:34 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: Time to go back to Kuwait and check in with Bill for what I think what will be the last time this morning. He joins us from Camp Virginia, south of the Iraqi border.
Once again, how far are you from Iraq right now?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Roughly 35 miles. They won't give us a exact distance, Paula. But about 35 miles from Iraq.
Listen, throughout our entire desert duty here, we're going to find the one soldier, or the one Marine who kind of tells a long distance story, the one man or woman who's been away longer than anyone else in his or her unit. That honor, today, at Camp Virginia, goes to Staff Sergeant Nigel Martin, who's our guest today.
Good to see you.
STAFF SGT. NIGEL MARTIN: Hello.
HEMMER: Hometown?
MARTIN: Long Island, sir.
HEMMER: How long you been here?
MARTIN: Since November 12th, sir.
HEMMER: So you're well into your fourth, looking at your fifth month here?
MARTIN: Yes.
HEMMER: Yes, now no one else in this camp has been in Virginia longer than you.
MARTIN: Correct, sir.
HEMMER: Why aren't you in Camp New York, by the way, if you're from Long Island?
MARTIN: I have no idea, sir.
HEMMER: Well, listen, I think one of the really interesting things about your position here, is some people consider your job at this camp to be the most vital and the most critical. Tell our viewers what your job is here for the U.S. Army.
MARTIN: My job is defact manager.
HEMMER: What's defact?
MARTIN: Dining facility manager of the fifth corps.
HEMMER: You run the chow hall, the mess hall. You're in charge of everybody eating, right?
MARTIN: Right, sir.
HEMMER: Give us the best meal that's present here at Camp Virginia.
MARTIN: Surf and Turf, that's every Sunday, crab legs, lobster or shrimp, sir.
HEMMER: Well, this is Thursday. We picked the wrong day, didn't we?
MARTIN: Sure did.
HEMMER: What's on the menu tonight?
MARTIN: The menu tonight is hot dogs and hamburgers.
HEMMER: Hot dogs and hamburgers, a long way from surf and turf.
Listen quickly here, tell us about the military operation, tell us about morale. What are you hearing from the men and women here?
MARTIN: The morale is kind of up now, sir. I mean, it's been a long time, and soldiers want to get it over with, get it on, you know, do what they got to do and get home.
HEMMER: Be safe, right?
MARTIN: All right.
HEMMER: Thanks for sharing your story. Nigel Martin, staff sergeant out of Long Island, great to the see you, pal.
Paula, we're doing it every day, trying to find the one man or woman who's been away the longest. He wins the award today. Thank you, Nigel.
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 13, 2003 - 09:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Time to go back to Kuwait and check in with Bill for what I think what will be the last time this morning. He joins us from Camp Virginia, south of the Iraqi border.
Once again, how far are you from Iraq right now?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Roughly 35 miles. They won't give us a exact distance, Paula. But about 35 miles from Iraq.
Listen, throughout our entire desert duty here, we're going to find the one soldier, or the one Marine who kind of tells a long distance story, the one man or woman who's been away longer than anyone else in his or her unit. That honor, today, at Camp Virginia, goes to Staff Sergeant Nigel Martin, who's our guest today.
Good to see you.
STAFF SGT. NIGEL MARTIN: Hello.
HEMMER: Hometown?
MARTIN: Long Island, sir.
HEMMER: How long you been here?
MARTIN: Since November 12th, sir.
HEMMER: So you're well into your fourth, looking at your fifth month here?
MARTIN: Yes.
HEMMER: Yes, now no one else in this camp has been in Virginia longer than you.
MARTIN: Correct, sir.
HEMMER: Why aren't you in Camp New York, by the way, if you're from Long Island?
MARTIN: I have no idea, sir.
HEMMER: Well, listen, I think one of the really interesting things about your position here, is some people consider your job at this camp to be the most vital and the most critical. Tell our viewers what your job is here for the U.S. Army.
MARTIN: My job is defact manager.
HEMMER: What's defact?
MARTIN: Dining facility manager of the fifth corps.
HEMMER: You run the chow hall, the mess hall. You're in charge of everybody eating, right?
MARTIN: Right, sir.
HEMMER: Give us the best meal that's present here at Camp Virginia.
MARTIN: Surf and Turf, that's every Sunday, crab legs, lobster or shrimp, sir.
HEMMER: Well, this is Thursday. We picked the wrong day, didn't we?
MARTIN: Sure did.
HEMMER: What's on the menu tonight?
MARTIN: The menu tonight is hot dogs and hamburgers.
HEMMER: Hot dogs and hamburgers, a long way from surf and turf.
Listen quickly here, tell us about the military operation, tell us about morale. What are you hearing from the men and women here?
MARTIN: The morale is kind of up now, sir. I mean, it's been a long time, and soldiers want to get it over with, get it on, you know, do what they got to do and get home.
HEMMER: Be safe, right?
MARTIN: All right.
HEMMER: Thanks for sharing your story. Nigel Martin, staff sergeant out of Long Island, great to the see you, pal.
Paula, we're doing it every day, trying to find the one man or woman who's been away the longest. He wins the award today. Thank you, Nigel.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
