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American Morning

Interview With Former Vietnam War POW

Aired May 26, 2003 - 09:18   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: Live pictures coming in from Washington there at the Vietnam War Memorial there. Folks there obviously know what this day is all about.
So do a couple of people who are joining us right now.

It's taken more than 30 years, but Jeannette Kronick finally kept the promise that she made after buying a POW bracelet back in the 1960s. This copper bracelet is like many that were worn to show support for American prisoners in Vietnam.

Well, seeing the rescue of PFC Jessica Lynch from Iraq recently prompted Jeannette to go out and find the man whose name was on her POW bracelet. Well, she found Colonel Ken Cordier alive and well in Dallas, Texas and she flew there recently to give him the bracelet.

Well, we have both of them with us tomorrow.

Colonel Cordier is there. You see him there in Dallas joining us live this morning.

And Jeannette Kronick is here with us in our studios here in New York.

Good morning and glad to see both of you today.

This is such a great story. I was so shocked to find that, Jeannette, you actually kept this bracelet for 30 years. When did you stop wearing it?

JEANNETTE KRONICK, RETURNED POW BRACELET: I would not have parted with it. When I bought the bracelet, I wore it and I swore that one day I would find the man whose name was on this, god willing. He would be alive and I would put it off my wrist onto his. And if that was not the case, I would give it to his family.

But in those 30 years, finding him was something else.

HARRIS: How was that?

KRONICK: How would you find him? I didn't, you know, at the time, there was no Internet and I had gone, spoken to some veterans, veterans organizations. They had suggestions. Nothing materialized. And this, I remember I had this bracelet on when I met my husband and he looked at it -- it's copper -- and he said oh, you wear that for therapeutic reasons. I said no, no, no, no, no. Take a close look. Well, when they rescued Jessica Lynch, you know, I thought oh, that bracelet. And I had kept that bracelet in my jewelry drawer. I didn't throw it in a box. I didn't throw it in the attic. And I found it, pulled it out, and I found Kenneth Cordier. And it happened so quickly, after all these years.

Not only did I find him, but I spoke -- this was within hours. Now, figure this, after 30 years, I found him, I spoke to him and by coincidence, our synchronicity, our karma or whatever you choose to think of, he happened to have been interviewed locally that evening on television here.

HARRIS: In Dallas?

KRONICK: Tri-city, from the, one of the stations up here, local stations, an NBC station locally interviewed him from Dallas. So I not only spoke, met him, spoke to him, I saw him on TV.

HARRIS: Well, let's speak to him now. I want to hear his side of this whole story.

As they say, where there's a will, there's a way, and obviously you had the will to find this man.

KRONICK: And it happened within hours.

HARRIS: Well, Colonel Cordier, what do you say about that? I mean what was it like for you to actually meet Jeannette and to find out about her carrying this bracelet for 30 years?

COL. KEN CORDIER, FORMER POW IN VIETNAM: Well, the fact that she kept it all these years wasn't nearly as unique as the fact that she went to all the time and effort to come out here to Dallas and present it to me in person.

I have a box full of approximately 100 of these bracelets that people have sent to me, most of them...

HARRIS: Is that right?

CORDIER: Yes, most of them within the first year after my return from Vietnam in '73. And there was letters that came with these. But she's the first person in all this time that actually traveled to present it to me. So I was...

HARRIS: Well, haven't...

CORDIER: Somewhat overwhelmed.

HARRIS: Well, to have this one come separately like that has got to mean something a little bit more special to you. What does that actually -- what did it mean to you to actually meet her and to receive this bracelet?

CORDIER: Well, it was, like I say, it was very heartwarming and almost a little overwhelming that someone would have this much dedication. But what it means to me is that this is a reflection of the feeling that's out there all around the country.

KRONICK: Yes.

CORDIER: She sort of represents the great reservoir of good will that I've encountered.

KRONICK: Yes.

HARRIS: And that's exactly what this day is for, so that men like you will actually see that and feel that reservoir of good will.

I want to thank both of you for coming in this morning.

We're going to have to move on this morning, but it's good to see both of you, Colonel Cordier and Jeannette Kronick.

CORDIER: Thank you.

HARRIS: Thank you very much. Congratulations for doing such a great thing.

CORDIER: And thank you, Jeannette.

KRONICK: Oh, I'm hoping other people will dig those bracelets up and look up the POWs.

HARRIS: Well, after hearing that story, they probably will.

KRONICK: Yes.

HARRIS: All right, we'll have to watch and see if that happens.

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 - 09:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures coming in from Washington there at the Vietnam War Memorial there. Folks there obviously know what this day is all about.
So do a couple of people who are joining us right now.

It's taken more than 30 years, but Jeannette Kronick finally kept the promise that she made after buying a POW bracelet back in the 1960s. This copper bracelet is like many that were worn to show support for American prisoners in Vietnam.

Well, seeing the rescue of PFC Jessica Lynch from Iraq recently prompted Jeannette to go out and find the man whose name was on her POW bracelet. Well, she found Colonel Ken Cordier alive and well in Dallas, Texas and she flew there recently to give him the bracelet.

Well, we have both of them with us tomorrow.

Colonel Cordier is there. You see him there in Dallas joining us live this morning.

And Jeannette Kronick is here with us in our studios here in New York.

Good morning and glad to see both of you today.

This is such a great story. I was so shocked to find that, Jeannette, you actually kept this bracelet for 30 years. When did you stop wearing it?

JEANNETTE KRONICK, RETURNED POW BRACELET: I would not have parted with it. When I bought the bracelet, I wore it and I swore that one day I would find the man whose name was on this, god willing. He would be alive and I would put it off my wrist onto his. And if that was not the case, I would give it to his family.

But in those 30 years, finding him was something else.

HARRIS: How was that?

KRONICK: How would you find him? I didn't, you know, at the time, there was no Internet and I had gone, spoken to some veterans, veterans organizations. They had suggestions. Nothing materialized. And this, I remember I had this bracelet on when I met my husband and he looked at it -- it's copper -- and he said oh, you wear that for therapeutic reasons. I said no, no, no, no, no. Take a close look. Well, when they rescued Jessica Lynch, you know, I thought oh, that bracelet. And I had kept that bracelet in my jewelry drawer. I didn't throw it in a box. I didn't throw it in the attic. And I found it, pulled it out, and I found Kenneth Cordier. And it happened so quickly, after all these years.

Not only did I find him, but I spoke -- this was within hours. Now, figure this, after 30 years, I found him, I spoke to him and by coincidence, our synchronicity, our karma or whatever you choose to think of, he happened to have been interviewed locally that evening on television here.

HARRIS: In Dallas?

KRONICK: Tri-city, from the, one of the stations up here, local stations, an NBC station locally interviewed him from Dallas. So I not only spoke, met him, spoke to him, I saw him on TV.

HARRIS: Well, let's speak to him now. I want to hear his side of this whole story.

As they say, where there's a will, there's a way, and obviously you had the will to find this man.

KRONICK: And it happened within hours.

HARRIS: Well, Colonel Cordier, what do you say about that? I mean what was it like for you to actually meet Jeannette and to find out about her carrying this bracelet for 30 years?

COL. KEN CORDIER, FORMER POW IN VIETNAM: Well, the fact that she kept it all these years wasn't nearly as unique as the fact that she went to all the time and effort to come out here to Dallas and present it to me in person.

I have a box full of approximately 100 of these bracelets that people have sent to me, most of them...

HARRIS: Is that right?

CORDIER: Yes, most of them within the first year after my return from Vietnam in '73. And there was letters that came with these. But she's the first person in all this time that actually traveled to present it to me. So I was...

HARRIS: Well, haven't...

CORDIER: Somewhat overwhelmed.

HARRIS: Well, to have this one come separately like that has got to mean something a little bit more special to you. What does that actually -- what did it mean to you to actually meet her and to receive this bracelet?

CORDIER: Well, it was, like I say, it was very heartwarming and almost a little overwhelming that someone would have this much dedication. But what it means to me is that this is a reflection of the feeling that's out there all around the country.

KRONICK: Yes.

CORDIER: She sort of represents the great reservoir of good will that I've encountered.

KRONICK: Yes.

HARRIS: And that's exactly what this day is for, so that men like you will actually see that and feel that reservoir of good will.

I want to thank both of you for coming in this morning.

We're going to have to move on this morning, but it's good to see both of you, Colonel Cordier and Jeannette Kronick.

CORDIER: Thank you.

HARRIS: Thank you very much. Congratulations for doing such a great thing.

CORDIER: And thank you, Jeannette.

KRONICK: Oh, I'm hoping other people will dig those bracelets up and look up the POWs.

HARRIS: Well, after hearing that story, they probably will.

KRONICK: Yes.

HARRIS: All right, we'll have to watch and see if that happens.

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