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American Morning

War's Cost

Aired April 07, 2003 - 08:50   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: Army Specialist James Kiehl was among eight U.S. soldiers killed during an ambush near Nasiriyah back on the 23rd of March. Specialist Kiehl was member of the 507th Maintenance Company out of Ft. Bliss, Texas. He was only 22 years old. His wife is due to give birth in the month of May. His parents, Randy and Jane Kiehl, now join us live today from Comfort, Texas. This is never an easy topic to talk about, but I appreciate you spending your time with us on CNN. And I know the reason you came was to talk about your son.
What would you like America to know about him?

RANDY KIEHL, SPC KIEHL'S FATHER: That we are proud of our son, that he knew he had a job to do when he left. We had talked the Sunday before he was deployed. And that he's a hero. He did not go down just protesting as others have. He went down fighting, defending the United States.

HEMMER: Jane, what would you say?

JANE KIEHL, SPC KIEHL'S MOTHER: I'd say that, again, we're very proud of our son, and that we want to let everyone know that, besides our son, we're proud of the other soldiers, and that we're going to stay vigilant and make sure that no one forgets the MIAs that are still out there, the eight Marines and the five POWs that have still not been found. We're still going to watch for them, too. James was with his fellow soldiers, and we want everybody to come home.

HEMMER: You two sound extremely strong, given the circumstances. I'm curious to know about his wife, Jill. I understand she is in Iowa with her own family. Have you talked to her? And how is she doing?

R. KIEHL: Go ahead.

J. KIEHL: We talk to her on a daily basis, two or three times. She's doing OK. The baby is due to come. James was a month early when he was delivered, so we don't know when this baby is going -- when he's going to come. He's very active, and he's letting his mom know he's ready to come out.

HEMMER: Wow.

Hey, Randy, have you heard more about what happened on that day, March 23rd, that Sunday near the town of Nasiriyah?

R. KIEHL: Originally, we were told that they had made a wrong turn. Since then, a representative, Rais (py), out of El Paso district had an article in "The El Paso Times," that no, the fine soldiers did not make a wrong turn. They were stopped to assist a stalled vehicle, and that's when they were ambushed on the bridge, and one of the sergeants, Sergeant Campbell specifically, and a Sergeant Jackson that were in Walter Reed, said that they jumped out of their vehicles, grabbed their M-16s, went into a ditch along the bridge, established a defensive perimeter, and defended themselves. That lends a little more peace of mind, and some more validity to the story of what happened.

HEMMER: I'm sure it does.

I want to wish you the best of luck going forward. This must be, as one can imagine, a huge loss for your family, and Jill as well, expecting a baby in the month of May.

Randy and Jane Kiehl, Comfort, Texas, talking about the life of their son, James. Best to both of you both, OK.

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 April 7, 2003 - 08:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Army Specialist James Kiehl was among eight U.S. soldiers killed during an ambush near Nasiriyah back on the 23rd of March. Specialist Kiehl was member of the 507th Maintenance Company out of Ft. Bliss, Texas. He was only 22 years old. His wife is due to give birth in the month of May. His parents, Randy and Jane Kiehl, now join us live today from Comfort, Texas. This is never an easy topic to talk about, but I appreciate you spending your time with us on CNN. And I know the reason you came was to talk about your son.
What would you like America to know about him?

RANDY KIEHL, SPC KIEHL'S FATHER: That we are proud of our son, that he knew he had a job to do when he left. We had talked the Sunday before he was deployed. And that he's a hero. He did not go down just protesting as others have. He went down fighting, defending the United States.

HEMMER: Jane, what would you say?

JANE KIEHL, SPC KIEHL'S MOTHER: I'd say that, again, we're very proud of our son, and that we want to let everyone know that, besides our son, we're proud of the other soldiers, and that we're going to stay vigilant and make sure that no one forgets the MIAs that are still out there, the eight Marines and the five POWs that have still not been found. We're still going to watch for them, too. James was with his fellow soldiers, and we want everybody to come home.

HEMMER: You two sound extremely strong, given the circumstances. I'm curious to know about his wife, Jill. I understand she is in Iowa with her own family. Have you talked to her? And how is she doing?

R. KIEHL: Go ahead.

J. KIEHL: We talk to her on a daily basis, two or three times. She's doing OK. The baby is due to come. James was a month early when he was delivered, so we don't know when this baby is going -- when he's going to come. He's very active, and he's letting his mom know he's ready to come out.

HEMMER: Wow.

Hey, Randy, have you heard more about what happened on that day, March 23rd, that Sunday near the town of Nasiriyah?

R. KIEHL: Originally, we were told that they had made a wrong turn. Since then, a representative, Rais (py), out of El Paso district had an article in "The El Paso Times," that no, the fine soldiers did not make a wrong turn. They were stopped to assist a stalled vehicle, and that's when they were ambushed on the bridge, and one of the sergeants, Sergeant Campbell specifically, and a Sergeant Jackson that were in Walter Reed, said that they jumped out of their vehicles, grabbed their M-16s, went into a ditch along the bridge, established a defensive perimeter, and defended themselves. That lends a little more peace of mind, and some more validity to the story of what happened.

HEMMER: I'm sure it does.

I want to wish you the best of luck going forward. This must be, as one can imagine, a huge loss for your family, and Jill as well, expecting a baby in the month of May.

Randy and Jane Kiehl, Comfort, Texas, talking about the life of their son, James. Best to both of you both, OK.

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