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American Morning

Interview with First Gulf War Prisoner of War

Aired March 24, 2003 - 07:47   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: What kind of treatment can the prisoners expect under Saddam Hussein? Colonel Rhonda Cornum knows firsthand. She was a U.S. Army flight surgeon, who was taken prisoner during the first Gulf War. She joins us from Washington.
Colonel Cornum, welcome -- glad to have you with us this morning.

COL. RHONDA CORNUM, FORMER POW: Thanks very much. Good to be here.

ZAHN: When you heard this terrible news yesterday, what went through your mind?

CORNUM: Well, I knew that their families, when they found out, would be going through exactly the same thing mine did, which was concern. I felt that these soldiers were trained for this, that they will do the right thing, they will come together and have faith that their families are going to get taken care of, the readiness groups will take care of each other, and that the military is just as dedicated to getting them out quickly as they were back in '91 when we were captured.

ZAHN: President Bush said he expects these prisoners to be treated humanely. Based on your experience, can you tell us what anybody could anticipate here? I know it's going to be very difficult for you to speculate about the conditions they are being held under, but maybe you can tell us about whether you think the Iraqis will live up the Geneva Conventions, which they say they will abide by.

CORNUM: Well, I can only speak for my own experience, and while they did not live up to the Geneva Conventions, they did not kill any prisoners once they had captured them. Some people were abused, some people were not. But I expect that the Iraqis will take care of them in some way safely. I certainly hope that, and it certainly is in their best interest to do that. And we are certainly taking care of all of their prisoners humanely.

ZAHN: Iraqi soldiers held you captive for eight days. It became public that you were sexually assaulted. We know that another woman is among those being held now as a prisoner of war. Has that altered your feeling at all about women being in combat?

CORNUM: Well, no, it hasn't frankly. First of all, women aren't the only people who are possibly subject to that. Secondly, there obviously isn't any place safe. So combat versus non-combat, you weren't safe in the Twin Towers, you weren't safe in a lot of places. So I don't think that women in combat is really an issue here. Everybody is in combat that's either in the war on terrorism or in Iraqi freedoms.

ZAHN: I know it's so painful for you to have to relive some of what you went through, but is there anything you want to talk about in a broad sense this morning about what you had to endure?

CORNUM: Just the real things that are of concern of a prisoner of war. The first thing you worry about is what's going to happen to your family. I mean, are they OK? And the next things you worry about in order are: Are they going to kill me, am I going to be disabled, and when am I going to get out?

And I had absolute faith that the administration we had then and General Schwarzkopf and General Powell were going to do everything they could to get me out, and I just had to stay alive long enough for them to accomplish that, and I feel confident that's going to happen again.

ZAHN: And finally, Colonel Cornum, you described the questions that you asked yourself as a POW. Help us better understand how any of the training kicked in, and how that helped you through the process.

CORNUM: Well, obviously every soldier has some training, not all the same amount, but everybody has some training on the Geneva Conventions and the Code of Conduct. And the basic is to not help the enemy and to maintain honor and to try to help the other prisoners if you know they're there.

ZAHN: Colonel Cornum, we're going to leave it there. Thank you very much for sharing your personal story with us and your insights as well. Thanks again for dropping by this morning.

CORNUM: 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 24, 2003 - 07:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: What kind of treatment can the prisoners expect under Saddam Hussein? Colonel Rhonda Cornum knows firsthand. She was a U.S. Army flight surgeon, who was taken prisoner during the first Gulf War. She joins us from Washington.
Colonel Cornum, welcome -- glad to have you with us this morning.

COL. RHONDA CORNUM, FORMER POW: Thanks very much. Good to be here.

ZAHN: When you heard this terrible news yesterday, what went through your mind?

CORNUM: Well, I knew that their families, when they found out, would be going through exactly the same thing mine did, which was concern. I felt that these soldiers were trained for this, that they will do the right thing, they will come together and have faith that their families are going to get taken care of, the readiness groups will take care of each other, and that the military is just as dedicated to getting them out quickly as they were back in '91 when we were captured.

ZAHN: President Bush said he expects these prisoners to be treated humanely. Based on your experience, can you tell us what anybody could anticipate here? I know it's going to be very difficult for you to speculate about the conditions they are being held under, but maybe you can tell us about whether you think the Iraqis will live up the Geneva Conventions, which they say they will abide by.

CORNUM: Well, I can only speak for my own experience, and while they did not live up to the Geneva Conventions, they did not kill any prisoners once they had captured them. Some people were abused, some people were not. But I expect that the Iraqis will take care of them in some way safely. I certainly hope that, and it certainly is in their best interest to do that. And we are certainly taking care of all of their prisoners humanely.

ZAHN: Iraqi soldiers held you captive for eight days. It became public that you were sexually assaulted. We know that another woman is among those being held now as a prisoner of war. Has that altered your feeling at all about women being in combat?

CORNUM: Well, no, it hasn't frankly. First of all, women aren't the only people who are possibly subject to that. Secondly, there obviously isn't any place safe. So combat versus non-combat, you weren't safe in the Twin Towers, you weren't safe in a lot of places. So I don't think that women in combat is really an issue here. Everybody is in combat that's either in the war on terrorism or in Iraqi freedoms.

ZAHN: I know it's so painful for you to have to relive some of what you went through, but is there anything you want to talk about in a broad sense this morning about what you had to endure?

CORNUM: Just the real things that are of concern of a prisoner of war. The first thing you worry about is what's going to happen to your family. I mean, are they OK? And the next things you worry about in order are: Are they going to kill me, am I going to be disabled, and when am I going to get out?

And I had absolute faith that the administration we had then and General Schwarzkopf and General Powell were going to do everything they could to get me out, and I just had to stay alive long enough for them to accomplish that, and I feel confident that's going to happen again.

ZAHN: And finally, Colonel Cornum, you described the questions that you asked yourself as a POW. Help us better understand how any of the training kicked in, and how that helped you through the process.

CORNUM: Well, obviously every soldier has some training, not all the same amount, but everybody has some training on the Geneva Conventions and the Code of Conduct. And the basic is to not help the enemy and to maintain honor and to try to help the other prisoners if you know they're there.

ZAHN: Colonel Cornum, we're going to leave it there. Thank you very much for sharing your personal story with us and your insights as well. Thanks again for dropping by this morning.

CORNUM: 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.