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American Morning

Talk With Widow of Commander Rick Husband

Aired March 13, 2003 - 09:47   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The best of times and the worst of times. The families of Columbia's astronauts have been together through it all. And yesterday, they attended a memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery for astronaut David Brown. Two of his shuttle crewmates Michael Anderson and Laurel Clark, were also honored at Arlington in the past week.
And Elizabeth Husband is the widow of Columbia's commander, Rick Husband, and she's here in New York to tell us how the families of the Columbia seven are doing.

What an honor to meet you. You've been such a portrait of strength.

EVELYN HUSBAND, WIDOW OF RICK HUSBAND: Thank you very much.

Rick and I have faith in God, and that's what's held me up during a very, very, very hard time.

ZAHN: I wanted to share with our audience some of the poignancy of the memorial service you held for Rick in Amarillo, Texas. And here is how you honored his legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUSBAND: To Laura and Matthew, the legacy your father left you is this -- he prayed for you every single day that he lived. He loved you with all his heart. His pride and joy for you is immeasurable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: How are Laura and Matthew doing?

HUSBAND: They're doing well. Rick did give us a legacy of faith, and he did pray with us every day, and that is what's is underguarding us through the toughest thing we've been through. And it's not easy. There's lots and lots of tears. It's very difficult. But we're hanging in there.

ZAHN: One of the great treasures your children has today is not only living with the dignity of what he contributed to this country in the advancement of science, but he also left them some daily devotionals that he tape-recorded, and I want to play a small part of that for our audience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CMDR. RICK HUSBAND: OK, husband. That's another day. And I'll be looking forward to seeing you tomorrow for the next devotional. You take care and have a great day. I love you. Bye-.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Wow. How comforting is that for you to hear and for the children to hear?

HUSBAND: It's incredibly comforting. I was telling someone the other day, right after this happened, it was hard for me to watch. Now, I love it, because it's like he's still here. So he did it for Laura and Matthew that while he was in space, they could have some time with him. It was so terrific that he thought of that. He was so busy, and that he took the time to do that.

ZAHN: And he came up with that idea on his own.

HUSBAND: All by himself. Amazingly enough, yes.

ZAHN: Tell us what it is like to live day to day when you're waiting for NASA to come up with some kind of answers as to what happened?

HUSBAND: Well, it really isn't that difficult, because we're really just really grieving his death. I have so much respect for NASA. Rick did. And I know how conscientiously they're trying to kind the cause of this. And once they do, I will be happy to hear what happened. But the day to day doesn't bother, because it takes time. You can't come up with an answer just momentarily. It's going to take some time. But they want to find the right answer so it doesn't happen again.

ZAHN: I think we'll all become so familiar with the rigorousness of the training that all the astronauts went through, but in you're heart of hearts, based on what you know now, do you think they have any inkling of what was to come?

HUSBAND: Absolutely not. I listened to Rick's final words. And I could tell that there was absolutely no fear in his voice. I don't think he had a clue of what was getting ready to take place. And I'm very thankful for that, that they were not fearful at the end.

ZAHN: And if you would share with us, now, some of what you've heard from the other families and what seems to be the challenge now, just getting by.

HUSBAND: To be honest with you, I feel like we've passed a milestone, because we've gotten through the funerals. I think that's something you really anticipate as a family. I know I did with Rick. And to be to this point, where we've gone through that now, there's some closure. Certainly not complete closure. It's going to take a very long time to achieve that, if ever. But it's very comforting for us to be together, and we pray together as a group, and it's made us very strong. ZAHN: Evelyn Husband, we salute your strength and your courage. Thank you very much for dropping by today. Best of luck to your family.

HUSBAND: Thank 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 March 13, 2003 - 09:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The best of times and the worst of times. The families of Columbia's astronauts have been together through it all. And yesterday, they attended a memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery for astronaut David Brown. Two of his shuttle crewmates Michael Anderson and Laurel Clark, were also honored at Arlington in the past week.
And Elizabeth Husband is the widow of Columbia's commander, Rick Husband, and she's here in New York to tell us how the families of the Columbia seven are doing.

What an honor to meet you. You've been such a portrait of strength.

EVELYN HUSBAND, WIDOW OF RICK HUSBAND: Thank you very much.

Rick and I have faith in God, and that's what's held me up during a very, very, very hard time.

ZAHN: I wanted to share with our audience some of the poignancy of the memorial service you held for Rick in Amarillo, Texas. And here is how you honored his legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUSBAND: To Laura and Matthew, the legacy your father left you is this -- he prayed for you every single day that he lived. He loved you with all his heart. His pride and joy for you is immeasurable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: How are Laura and Matthew doing?

HUSBAND: They're doing well. Rick did give us a legacy of faith, and he did pray with us every day, and that is what's is underguarding us through the toughest thing we've been through. And it's not easy. There's lots and lots of tears. It's very difficult. But we're hanging in there.

ZAHN: One of the great treasures your children has today is not only living with the dignity of what he contributed to this country in the advancement of science, but he also left them some daily devotionals that he tape-recorded, and I want to play a small part of that for our audience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CMDR. RICK HUSBAND: OK, husband. That's another day. And I'll be looking forward to seeing you tomorrow for the next devotional. You take care and have a great day. I love you. Bye-.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Wow. How comforting is that for you to hear and for the children to hear?

HUSBAND: It's incredibly comforting. I was telling someone the other day, right after this happened, it was hard for me to watch. Now, I love it, because it's like he's still here. So he did it for Laura and Matthew that while he was in space, they could have some time with him. It was so terrific that he thought of that. He was so busy, and that he took the time to do that.

ZAHN: And he came up with that idea on his own.

HUSBAND: All by himself. Amazingly enough, yes.

ZAHN: Tell us what it is like to live day to day when you're waiting for NASA to come up with some kind of answers as to what happened?

HUSBAND: Well, it really isn't that difficult, because we're really just really grieving his death. I have so much respect for NASA. Rick did. And I know how conscientiously they're trying to kind the cause of this. And once they do, I will be happy to hear what happened. But the day to day doesn't bother, because it takes time. You can't come up with an answer just momentarily. It's going to take some time. But they want to find the right answer so it doesn't happen again.

ZAHN: I think we'll all become so familiar with the rigorousness of the training that all the astronauts went through, but in you're heart of hearts, based on what you know now, do you think they have any inkling of what was to come?

HUSBAND: Absolutely not. I listened to Rick's final words. And I could tell that there was absolutely no fear in his voice. I don't think he had a clue of what was getting ready to take place. And I'm very thankful for that, that they were not fearful at the end.

ZAHN: And if you would share with us, now, some of what you've heard from the other families and what seems to be the challenge now, just getting by.

HUSBAND: To be honest with you, I feel like we've passed a milestone, because we've gotten through the funerals. I think that's something you really anticipate as a family. I know I did with Rick. And to be to this point, where we've gone through that now, there's some closure. Certainly not complete closure. It's going to take a very long time to achieve that, if ever. But it's very comforting for us to be together, and we pray together as a group, and it's made us very strong. ZAHN: Evelyn Husband, we salute your strength and your courage. Thank you very much for dropping by today. Best of luck to your family.

HUSBAND: Thank 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