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American Morning

'Special' Consideration for Military Families

Aired May 16, 2003 - 07:42   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. military planners relied more heavily on Special Forces for the war in Iraq than in any other war before it, but it seems all of the extra responsibility also added a heavy burden on their families.
Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is in Washington.

Hi there -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

Well, we went to Ft. Bragg to talk to some of these families about the long separations they've endured. Because of the very secret work these soldiers do, we were asked to only use first names.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): Fourteen-year-old Chad has been worried about his dad.

CHAD, SON OF SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER: Knowing, like, not when he's coming home because he's not allowed to say, and if you ever get to see him again. It's really difficult.

STARR: On this night, his dad, Jim, has been back home at Ft. Bragg just 24 hours after months on the front line with Special Forces in Iraq.

JIM, U.S. ARMY: All you're worried about is taking care of yourself, doing your mission you've got to do. And then you've got to come home and everything else is going on. The car is broken. The air-conditioner doesn't work.

STARR: We sat down with his wife, Carolyn, and other wives, to talk about dealing with the stress of separation. For Carolyn, the worst came when she heard Special Forces were hit by friendly fire.

CAROLYN, WIFE OF SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER: All that day, I panicked. I looked out the window to see if any military vehicles were coming to my door. It was horrible. And then, finally, one of the wives on the team called to say they're all fine. And when they did that, I went to my bedroom and I broke down.

JANIS, WIFE OF SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER: Now he left again in March.

STARR: Janis has a 2-year-old son, John-John (ph), who knows his daddy is away.

JANIS: He cries a lot, and he wants his daddy and he wants to know where his daddy is and when is daddy coming home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes, it seems like it's easier sitting in a tent and far, far away.

STARR: Lorinaa remembers one phone call to her husband when she broke down in tears over mounting family problems.

LORINAA, WIFE OF SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIERS: He asked me, "Are you going to be OK?" And I said, 'I'm going to be fine.' And -- but that's how we left the phone call was me very upset, and I didn't hear from him for two weeks and I felt awful.

STARR: Phone calls do help, but sometimes the loneliness is overwhelming.

CHRISTINE, WIFE OF SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER: You know, when the children go to sleep, you close that bedroom door and you just -- you're by yourself and it all comes to a head.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: You know, these families are really remarkable. These wives talk about their husbands as going on long business trips, but, of course, what these men are really doing is going to far-flung places like Afghanistan and Iraq and beating the very dangerous odds against some of America's most bitter enemies -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Now, Barbara, was there special counseling put in place for these families? Particularly since after the Afghanistan war, there were these extensive probes going on involving the deaths of Ft. Bragg soldiers after their return from the Afghanistan war.

STARR: Well, indeed. This past week, the Army has now announced there will be a mandatory new counseling program for all soldiers returning from any deployment.

Ft. Bragg, the situation there last summer, of course, was that four soldiers did kill their spouses, and there was some concern. Many of these were very troubled cases, but there was some concern that maybe the stress of combat, the stress of deployment might be getting to some of the most troubled soldiers out there, and the Army felt maybe it needed to start paying more attention.

So, as of now, yes, all soldiers returning from deployment will go through a mandatory program, and the Army says it's part of the effort to keep families together, because if they can keep the families together, they feel they can then keep the soldiers on duty and in the active duty service -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So important. Thanks very much, Barbara Starr, from the Pentagon.

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 May 16, 2003 - 07:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. military planners relied more heavily on Special Forces for the war in Iraq than in any other war before it, but it seems all of the extra responsibility also added a heavy burden on their families.
Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is in Washington.

Hi there -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

Well, we went to Ft. Bragg to talk to some of these families about the long separations they've endured. Because of the very secret work these soldiers do, we were asked to only use first names.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): Fourteen-year-old Chad has been worried about his dad.

CHAD, SON OF SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER: Knowing, like, not when he's coming home because he's not allowed to say, and if you ever get to see him again. It's really difficult.

STARR: On this night, his dad, Jim, has been back home at Ft. Bragg just 24 hours after months on the front line with Special Forces in Iraq.

JIM, U.S. ARMY: All you're worried about is taking care of yourself, doing your mission you've got to do. And then you've got to come home and everything else is going on. The car is broken. The air-conditioner doesn't work.

STARR: We sat down with his wife, Carolyn, and other wives, to talk about dealing with the stress of separation. For Carolyn, the worst came when she heard Special Forces were hit by friendly fire.

CAROLYN, WIFE OF SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER: All that day, I panicked. I looked out the window to see if any military vehicles were coming to my door. It was horrible. And then, finally, one of the wives on the team called to say they're all fine. And when they did that, I went to my bedroom and I broke down.

JANIS, WIFE OF SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER: Now he left again in March.

STARR: Janis has a 2-year-old son, John-John (ph), who knows his daddy is away.

JANIS: He cries a lot, and he wants his daddy and he wants to know where his daddy is and when is daddy coming home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes, it seems like it's easier sitting in a tent and far, far away.

STARR: Lorinaa remembers one phone call to her husband when she broke down in tears over mounting family problems.

LORINAA, WIFE OF SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIERS: He asked me, "Are you going to be OK?" And I said, 'I'm going to be fine.' And -- but that's how we left the phone call was me very upset, and I didn't hear from him for two weeks and I felt awful.

STARR: Phone calls do help, but sometimes the loneliness is overwhelming.

CHRISTINE, WIFE OF SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER: You know, when the children go to sleep, you close that bedroom door and you just -- you're by yourself and it all comes to a head.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: You know, these families are really remarkable. These wives talk about their husbands as going on long business trips, but, of course, what these men are really doing is going to far-flung places like Afghanistan and Iraq and beating the very dangerous odds against some of America's most bitter enemies -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Now, Barbara, was there special counseling put in place for these families? Particularly since after the Afghanistan war, there were these extensive probes going on involving the deaths of Ft. Bragg soldiers after their return from the Afghanistan war.

STARR: Well, indeed. This past week, the Army has now announced there will be a mandatory new counseling program for all soldiers returning from any deployment.

Ft. Bragg, the situation there last summer, of course, was that four soldiers did kill their spouses, and there was some concern. Many of these were very troubled cases, but there was some concern that maybe the stress of combat, the stress of deployment might be getting to some of the most troubled soldiers out there, and the Army felt maybe it needed to start paying more attention.

So, as of now, yes, all soldiers returning from deployment will go through a mandatory program, and the Army says it's part of the effort to keep families together, because if they can keep the families together, they feel they can then keep the soldiers on duty and in the active duty service -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So important. Thanks very much, Barbara Starr, from the Pentagon.

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