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American Morning
Former POW Now Marshal of Georgia Parade
Aired May 26, 2003 - 09:03 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush, in a Memorial Day proclamation, asked the nation to remember what was gained and what was lost in times of war.
We have reports this morning from around the country.
Gary Tuchman is at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina awaiting the arrival of the tragedy stricken USS Nassau, that ship we've been talking about all this morning.
Jason Carroll is at the USS Intrepid here in New York with the Marine who became famous at the start of the war in Iraq.
And Jennifer Coggiola is in a small town in Georgia, where former POW Ron Young is the grand marshal of a parade that's just about to begin down there.
We're going to begin things right now with Gary -- Gary Tuchman, go ahead.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, hello to you.
And there is a lot of happiness here in North Carolina. People here know about the two missing Marines aboard the USS Nassau. But 2,300 other Marines are arriving back on the beaches today in North Carolina and they just started arriving a short time ago. They're coming off the huge ships and they're going on smaller Humvees as they close to the coast. And then they meet their families.
And with us right now is one family awaiting the arrival of their Marine. His name is William Lara.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Willie.
TUCHMAN: And you can see the sign right here, "Welcome Home W. Lara!"
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome home, troops.
TUCHMAN: And they're, and William is expected to be here in the next couple of hours.
Let me ask you, William has never seen his baby niece. This is Demi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's never seen her.
CARROLL: This is Demi. How old is she?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's three months old.
TUCHMAN: Three months old. And this right now is Sharon. Tell us how it's been for, having your loved one away so long?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been scary. It's been scary. You don't stop watching the news. You watch every little detail.
TUCHMAN: And your husband is Rad (ph) over here, Rad (ph) with the new daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is.
TUCHMAN: Your brother is going to see your daughter for the first time.
How does that make you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it makes me -- I'm so happy. I'm very happy. I can't wait for him to see her.
TUCHMAN: How scary has this been for you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been scary, very scary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very scary just reading, getting on the Internet, trying to find out stuff about. We haven't heard from him for 10 months.
TUCHMAN: So family, might I say this is a good day for all of you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, a beautiful day.
UNIDENTIFIED FAMILY MEMBERS: Yes!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody, a beautiful day.
TUCHMAN: We have some tears in the background there under the sunglasses. But that's what it's all about as everyone here in North Carolina, Camp Lejeune, awaits the arrival of 2,300 Marines -- Leon, go back to you.
HARRIS: All right, good deal.
Thanks, Gary.
And all the best to those folks down there.
Now, to the USS Intrepid here in New York.
Our Jason Carroll is there.
He checks in now live -- Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Leon, Fleet Week is under way here in New York City. This is the opportunity for people to come out and meet and greet the men and women in uniform.
Joining me right now, one of those men, Major David Guerfein. He holds a special moment in history. He was the man, the Marine that tore down that infamous picture of Saddam Hussein in Safwan, Iraq, during the early days of the war.
Take me back to that moment. What was that life for you?
DAVID GUERFEIN, 1ST MARINE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE: It was really a pretty incredible experience. We never expected to get the media coverage that we did. But it went over really well. The intent of the day was to let the Iraqi people know that we were coming to liberate them and that Saddam Hussein was done. And since my Arabic is somewhat limited, we had to use whatever means necessary. And visual images really were the best way to do it.
We actually first tried to get the Iraqi people themselves to tear down the posters and they were too scared. They had been intimidated over 30 years by a really repressive regime and one woman had even told us about how one of her children was shot just for throwing some mud on one of the posters. And that upset my team a lot and we decided to show them that this type of dictatorship wouldn't stand.
CARROLL: Tell me, if you will, what this day means like to you as we look at some of these images from what happened during the war. What does this day hold for you personally?
GUERFEIN: There's a lot of mixed emotions with Memorial Day. It, on the one hand, it represents a really sad day because we're looking back on a lot of our military men and women who have served and paid the ultimate price. But on the other hand I think that they would want us to celebrate and be happy for everything that America stands for and that their lives would not have been lost in vain.
CARROLL: Now, you were a part of the inactive reservists a while ago and when those planes hit the twin towers, you called up and said I want to get involved, get me back in there. And tell me about that very quickly.
GUERFEIN: Yes, the second we were attacked I knew that I just couldn't sit back here in New York and go about my every day life. I had to get back with the Marines and do what we do best, which is out there supporting the country in its time of need.
CARROLL: Talk about support, very quickly, I wanted to get a very quick shot, if I can, of David's mother, who is standing over here just off camera. She's probably going to kill me for this but talk about patriotic, she's standing over there wearing red, white and blue out here to support her son. Her name, Vivian. We want to give a special thanks to your mom out there, Vivian, for bringing you down here.
Thanks again, David.
GUERFEIN: Sure, OK. Thank you.
CARROLL: Thank you for coming out.
GUERFEIN: Yes, that was great media.
CARROLL: I also want to point out that David is actually headed back to Iraq in, what, about a week?
GUERFEIN: That's correct.
CARROLL: In a week he's heading back to Iraq, so we want to give our special prayers to David and to his family. I know your father is very ill.
GUERFEIN: Yes.
CARROLL: We want to send out our prayers to him, as well.
GUERFEIN: Thank you very much.
CARROLL: Leon, back to you.
HARRIS: All right, good.
Nice to have the whole family with us then this morning.
Good to see them all.
Thanks, Jason.
Now, to Dacula, Georgia, where the parade is about to start this morning.
Jennifer Coggiola is down there.
She joins us live with a very special look at what's happening down there -- hello, Jennifer.
JENNIFER COGGIOLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Leon.
Well, a great example of sort of small town America celebrating Memorial Day. This is a town of just about 3,000 people, but they get nearly double that every year. This is their tenth annual parade. Now, behind me they had this morning a 5K race. You can see the finish line. People still coming in. And all of the proceeds go to the local high school track team.
Now, the highlight today, the grand marshal is Chief Warrant Officer and former Iraq war POW Ron Young and he will be riding in a Humvee down the street that's behind me through the one mile route along with the bands, the equestrian teams, all kinds of stuff, to end the day over at a church, where the final ceremonies were beginning.
Now, he is on special leave. He was actually supposed to report back to Fort Hood last Friday, but they allowed him to stay just for today's parade -- Leon.
HARRIS: All right, good deal.
Thanks, Jennifer.
We'll check back with you later on throughout the day here on the network.
Jennifer Coggiola in Dacula, Georgia.
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 26, 2003 - 09:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush, in a Memorial Day proclamation, asked the nation to remember what was gained and what was lost in times of war.
We have reports this morning from around the country.
Gary Tuchman is at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina awaiting the arrival of the tragedy stricken USS Nassau, that ship we've been talking about all this morning.
Jason Carroll is at the USS Intrepid here in New York with the Marine who became famous at the start of the war in Iraq.
And Jennifer Coggiola is in a small town in Georgia, where former POW Ron Young is the grand marshal of a parade that's just about to begin down there.
We're going to begin things right now with Gary -- Gary Tuchman, go ahead.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, hello to you.
And there is a lot of happiness here in North Carolina. People here know about the two missing Marines aboard the USS Nassau. But 2,300 other Marines are arriving back on the beaches today in North Carolina and they just started arriving a short time ago. They're coming off the huge ships and they're going on smaller Humvees as they close to the coast. And then they meet their families.
And with us right now is one family awaiting the arrival of their Marine. His name is William Lara.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Willie.
TUCHMAN: And you can see the sign right here, "Welcome Home W. Lara!"
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome home, troops.
TUCHMAN: And they're, and William is expected to be here in the next couple of hours.
Let me ask you, William has never seen his baby niece. This is Demi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's never seen her.
CARROLL: This is Demi. How old is she?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's three months old.
TUCHMAN: Three months old. And this right now is Sharon. Tell us how it's been for, having your loved one away so long?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been scary. It's been scary. You don't stop watching the news. You watch every little detail.
TUCHMAN: And your husband is Rad (ph) over here, Rad (ph) with the new daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is.
TUCHMAN: Your brother is going to see your daughter for the first time.
How does that make you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it makes me -- I'm so happy. I'm very happy. I can't wait for him to see her.
TUCHMAN: How scary has this been for you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been scary, very scary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very scary just reading, getting on the Internet, trying to find out stuff about. We haven't heard from him for 10 months.
TUCHMAN: So family, might I say this is a good day for all of you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, a beautiful day.
UNIDENTIFIED FAMILY MEMBERS: Yes!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody, a beautiful day.
TUCHMAN: We have some tears in the background there under the sunglasses. But that's what it's all about as everyone here in North Carolina, Camp Lejeune, awaits the arrival of 2,300 Marines -- Leon, go back to you.
HARRIS: All right, good deal.
Thanks, Gary.
And all the best to those folks down there.
Now, to the USS Intrepid here in New York.
Our Jason Carroll is there.
He checks in now live -- Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Leon, Fleet Week is under way here in New York City. This is the opportunity for people to come out and meet and greet the men and women in uniform.
Joining me right now, one of those men, Major David Guerfein. He holds a special moment in history. He was the man, the Marine that tore down that infamous picture of Saddam Hussein in Safwan, Iraq, during the early days of the war.
Take me back to that moment. What was that life for you?
DAVID GUERFEIN, 1ST MARINE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE: It was really a pretty incredible experience. We never expected to get the media coverage that we did. But it went over really well. The intent of the day was to let the Iraqi people know that we were coming to liberate them and that Saddam Hussein was done. And since my Arabic is somewhat limited, we had to use whatever means necessary. And visual images really were the best way to do it.
We actually first tried to get the Iraqi people themselves to tear down the posters and they were too scared. They had been intimidated over 30 years by a really repressive regime and one woman had even told us about how one of her children was shot just for throwing some mud on one of the posters. And that upset my team a lot and we decided to show them that this type of dictatorship wouldn't stand.
CARROLL: Tell me, if you will, what this day means like to you as we look at some of these images from what happened during the war. What does this day hold for you personally?
GUERFEIN: There's a lot of mixed emotions with Memorial Day. It, on the one hand, it represents a really sad day because we're looking back on a lot of our military men and women who have served and paid the ultimate price. But on the other hand I think that they would want us to celebrate and be happy for everything that America stands for and that their lives would not have been lost in vain.
CARROLL: Now, you were a part of the inactive reservists a while ago and when those planes hit the twin towers, you called up and said I want to get involved, get me back in there. And tell me about that very quickly.
GUERFEIN: Yes, the second we were attacked I knew that I just couldn't sit back here in New York and go about my every day life. I had to get back with the Marines and do what we do best, which is out there supporting the country in its time of need.
CARROLL: Talk about support, very quickly, I wanted to get a very quick shot, if I can, of David's mother, who is standing over here just off camera. She's probably going to kill me for this but talk about patriotic, she's standing over there wearing red, white and blue out here to support her son. Her name, Vivian. We want to give a special thanks to your mom out there, Vivian, for bringing you down here.
Thanks again, David.
GUERFEIN: Sure, OK. Thank you.
CARROLL: Thank you for coming out.
GUERFEIN: Yes, that was great media.
CARROLL: I also want to point out that David is actually headed back to Iraq in, what, about a week?
GUERFEIN: That's correct.
CARROLL: In a week he's heading back to Iraq, so we want to give our special prayers to David and to his family. I know your father is very ill.
GUERFEIN: Yes.
CARROLL: We want to send out our prayers to him, as well.
GUERFEIN: Thank you very much.
CARROLL: Leon, back to you.
HARRIS: All right, good.
Nice to have the whole family with us then this morning.
Good to see them all.
Thanks, Jason.
Now, to Dacula, Georgia, where the parade is about to start this morning.
Jennifer Coggiola is down there.
She joins us live with a very special look at what's happening down there -- hello, Jennifer.
JENNIFER COGGIOLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Leon.
Well, a great example of sort of small town America celebrating Memorial Day. This is a town of just about 3,000 people, but they get nearly double that every year. This is their tenth annual parade. Now, behind me they had this morning a 5K race. You can see the finish line. People still coming in. And all of the proceeds go to the local high school track team.
Now, the highlight today, the grand marshal is Chief Warrant Officer and former Iraq war POW Ron Young and he will be riding in a Humvee down the street that's behind me through the one mile route along with the bands, the equestrian teams, all kinds of stuff, to end the day over at a church, where the final ceremonies were beginning.
Now, he is on special leave. He was actually supposed to report back to Fort Hood last Friday, but they allowed him to stay just for today's parade -- Leon.
HARRIS: All right, good deal.
Thanks, Jennifer.
We'll check back with you later on throughout the day here on the network.
Jennifer Coggiola in Dacula, Georgia.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
