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American Morning

Interview With Harper Family

Aired December 26, 2003 - 08:06   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The holiday season has a special meaning for Mary and Ron Harper of Bellevue, Florida. For the past year, four of their children and a son-in-law were serving in Iraq. A fifth child, who's been stationed in Hawaii, is going to head to Iraq in about two weeks. But this holiday season they were all together.
And joining us this morning to talk about that, the Harper family, Mary and Ron and Chris, who's about to head to Iraq, and son- in-law Chet Gregg; also, Iraq veterans Becky Gregg and Sean and Bobby Harper.

Good morning to all of you.

It's nice to have you.

Thanks for being with us.

Merry Christmas.

HARPER FAMILY: Good morning.

Merry Christmas.

O'BRIEN: Well, let's start with Mary.

So, how does it feel to have everybody home, you know, for the holidays?

MARY HARPER, FOUR KIDS, SON-IN-LAW SERVED IN IRAQ: It feels wonderful. We're very blessed to have them all back safe and sound, for sure.

O'BRIEN: Tell me a little bit about how you...

M. HARPER: But we can't forget the...

O'BRIEN: Go ahead, Mary. I'm sorry for talking over you.

M. HARPER: I was just going to say, we can't forget the guys that are left over there that are still, you know, not home for the holidays. We think about them all the time.

O'BRIEN: Gosh, absolutely, the men and women who are over there.

Tell me how the day went yesterday and did you know in advance that pretty much everybody would be back at home for the holidays? M. HARPER: Yes, we pretty much knew they were all going to be here. We just planned as we normally do. It was wonderful because we haven't had them all together for a while. So this was a great Christmas. It was loud and noisy and, you know, everybody rushing around and the kids playing. It was great.

O'BRIEN: Just the way Christmas should be.

Now, Ron, I know, we have actually spoken in the past and you've talked about how you sort of stay glued to the TV set every time you hear a story about a soldier killed or somebody wounded. I know that affects you very deeply. Obviously your concerned not only about your kids and your son-in-law, but everyone you know there.

How have you gotten through this time with all the worrying that's on your mind? And I guess I'll throw the question to Ron.

RONALD HARPER, FOUR KIDS, SON-IN-LAW SERVED IN IRAQ: Well, you know, you've just got to stay focused on what's going on and we stayed focused a lot through Operation Shoe Box, which got us to Iraq. Our concern is for the safety and well-being of all the soldiers over there, not only ours, but all of them. And we kind of -- I wish that they could all come home and, you know, be as fortunate as these guys were, you know, to be here for the holidays.

But unfortunately somebody's still got to protect this country. And our men and women over there in uniform are doing a great job.

O'BRIEN: Yes, and I know that you all know just how lucky you are to be able to be home with your family at this time.

Chet, I want to ask this question of you.

When you were in Iraq, were you sort of looking forward to this day? Is this something that kept you going?

CHET GREGG, HARPER SON-IN-LAW WHO SERVED IN IRAQ: Oh, definitely. You know, I spent 11 months over there and no offense to Wayne Newton, but, you know, I had Wayne Newton last year. And it's much better this year having the family. I can assure you, it's much better.

O'BRIEN: I'm sure Wayne Newton wouldn't take any offense with that remark, Chet. No problem with that.

GREGG: OK.

O'BRIEN: Now, you've got a brother-in-law, Christopher, who is about to head to Iraq.

Do you sit around as a family -- obviously you have a wealth of experience among all of you. Do you give him advice about what he's going to face? What kinds of things are you talking about?

GREGG: Well, you just try to talk about things and, you know, it's tough, because when you're getting ready to go you're worrying, because you don't know what to expect. So we try help ease with that a little bit and where he's going and what kind of stuff happens there. But, you know, mainly, of course, tell him to keep his head down and stay safe, because that goes without saying.

But the other thing is to make sure, hey, just be smart about what you're doing and make the best of it, you know? Enjoy what you're doing and try to -- you know, it's an experience.

O'BRIEN: Yes, Chris, what kind of advice have you gotten? What's the best, the most useful advice you've gotten from one of your relatives?

CHRISTOPHER HARPER, BEING DEPLOYED TO IRAQ: Keep your head down. You know, that would be one of the best things because -- well, they've got all sorts of information, not just chat but Becky, Bobby Sean, they all have been there. They all tell me all kinds of stuff, what's going on, what's going to happen and what to look forward to. So I'm about as prepared as I can be.

O'BRIEN: Wonderful. I'm glad to hear that.

Mary, before we let you go, I want to talk to you a little bit about Project Shoebox or Operation Shoebox. And tell me a little bit about exactly who you're helping out and what you did over the holidays.

M. HARPER: Well, Operation Shoebox is, of course, a non-profit organization that we established to help the soldiers that are over in Iraq right now, not only Iraq, but Afghanistan and any deployable soldier anywhere, to try to help them get through their deployment. And we sent two -- over 2,000 Christmas stockings for the holidays over to the troops that we have. And we'll be adopting Christopher's unit when he goes over in January. So we're really trying to help them get through the time over there, because it's difficult. They don't always have access to things that we can send over to them from the States. So we try to accommodate their wishes and try to help them get through the time that they're there.

O'BRIEN: A really wonderful...

M. HARPER: And anybody can -- they can check it out. We have a Web site. It's Operationshoebox.com. And they can go there and get any information. We encourage people to support, you know, soldiers themselves, along with us. They can do it either way. As long as they're supporting the troops, that's what we're really trying to accomplish.

O'BRIEN: Excellent advice there.

Mary and Ron, thank you for joining us this morning.

And, Chris, I reiterate what everybody else told you, keep your head down. Come back nice and safe and sound. We'll get to talk to you when you're back. Also, of course, Chet and we also saw Becky and Sean and Bobby. I think I got everybody, right? You've got a big old family. M. HARPER: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: All right, thanks, you guys.

Happy holidays.

Thanks for sharing some of your time with us this morning.

M. HARPER: Thank you.

HARPER FAMILY: Merry Christmas.

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 December 26, 2003 - 08:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The holiday season has a special meaning for Mary and Ron Harper of Bellevue, Florida. For the past year, four of their children and a son-in-law were serving in Iraq. A fifth child, who's been stationed in Hawaii, is going to head to Iraq in about two weeks. But this holiday season they were all together.
And joining us this morning to talk about that, the Harper family, Mary and Ron and Chris, who's about to head to Iraq, and son- in-law Chet Gregg; also, Iraq veterans Becky Gregg and Sean and Bobby Harper.

Good morning to all of you.

It's nice to have you.

Thanks for being with us.

Merry Christmas.

HARPER FAMILY: Good morning.

Merry Christmas.

O'BRIEN: Well, let's start with Mary.

So, how does it feel to have everybody home, you know, for the holidays?

MARY HARPER, FOUR KIDS, SON-IN-LAW SERVED IN IRAQ: It feels wonderful. We're very blessed to have them all back safe and sound, for sure.

O'BRIEN: Tell me a little bit about how you...

M. HARPER: But we can't forget the...

O'BRIEN: Go ahead, Mary. I'm sorry for talking over you.

M. HARPER: I was just going to say, we can't forget the guys that are left over there that are still, you know, not home for the holidays. We think about them all the time.

O'BRIEN: Gosh, absolutely, the men and women who are over there.

Tell me how the day went yesterday and did you know in advance that pretty much everybody would be back at home for the holidays? M. HARPER: Yes, we pretty much knew they were all going to be here. We just planned as we normally do. It was wonderful because we haven't had them all together for a while. So this was a great Christmas. It was loud and noisy and, you know, everybody rushing around and the kids playing. It was great.

O'BRIEN: Just the way Christmas should be.

Now, Ron, I know, we have actually spoken in the past and you've talked about how you sort of stay glued to the TV set every time you hear a story about a soldier killed or somebody wounded. I know that affects you very deeply. Obviously your concerned not only about your kids and your son-in-law, but everyone you know there.

How have you gotten through this time with all the worrying that's on your mind? And I guess I'll throw the question to Ron.

RONALD HARPER, FOUR KIDS, SON-IN-LAW SERVED IN IRAQ: Well, you know, you've just got to stay focused on what's going on and we stayed focused a lot through Operation Shoe Box, which got us to Iraq. Our concern is for the safety and well-being of all the soldiers over there, not only ours, but all of them. And we kind of -- I wish that they could all come home and, you know, be as fortunate as these guys were, you know, to be here for the holidays.

But unfortunately somebody's still got to protect this country. And our men and women over there in uniform are doing a great job.

O'BRIEN: Yes, and I know that you all know just how lucky you are to be able to be home with your family at this time.

Chet, I want to ask this question of you.

When you were in Iraq, were you sort of looking forward to this day? Is this something that kept you going?

CHET GREGG, HARPER SON-IN-LAW WHO SERVED IN IRAQ: Oh, definitely. You know, I spent 11 months over there and no offense to Wayne Newton, but, you know, I had Wayne Newton last year. And it's much better this year having the family. I can assure you, it's much better.

O'BRIEN: I'm sure Wayne Newton wouldn't take any offense with that remark, Chet. No problem with that.

GREGG: OK.

O'BRIEN: Now, you've got a brother-in-law, Christopher, who is about to head to Iraq.

Do you sit around as a family -- obviously you have a wealth of experience among all of you. Do you give him advice about what he's going to face? What kinds of things are you talking about?

GREGG: Well, you just try to talk about things and, you know, it's tough, because when you're getting ready to go you're worrying, because you don't know what to expect. So we try help ease with that a little bit and where he's going and what kind of stuff happens there. But, you know, mainly, of course, tell him to keep his head down and stay safe, because that goes without saying.

But the other thing is to make sure, hey, just be smart about what you're doing and make the best of it, you know? Enjoy what you're doing and try to -- you know, it's an experience.

O'BRIEN: Yes, Chris, what kind of advice have you gotten? What's the best, the most useful advice you've gotten from one of your relatives?

CHRISTOPHER HARPER, BEING DEPLOYED TO IRAQ: Keep your head down. You know, that would be one of the best things because -- well, they've got all sorts of information, not just chat but Becky, Bobby Sean, they all have been there. They all tell me all kinds of stuff, what's going on, what's going to happen and what to look forward to. So I'm about as prepared as I can be.

O'BRIEN: Wonderful. I'm glad to hear that.

Mary, before we let you go, I want to talk to you a little bit about Project Shoebox or Operation Shoebox. And tell me a little bit about exactly who you're helping out and what you did over the holidays.

M. HARPER: Well, Operation Shoebox is, of course, a non-profit organization that we established to help the soldiers that are over in Iraq right now, not only Iraq, but Afghanistan and any deployable soldier anywhere, to try to help them get through their deployment. And we sent two -- over 2,000 Christmas stockings for the holidays over to the troops that we have. And we'll be adopting Christopher's unit when he goes over in January. So we're really trying to help them get through the time over there, because it's difficult. They don't always have access to things that we can send over to them from the States. So we try to accommodate their wishes and try to help them get through the time that they're there.

O'BRIEN: A really wonderful...

M. HARPER: And anybody can -- they can check it out. We have a Web site. It's Operationshoebox.com. And they can go there and get any information. We encourage people to support, you know, soldiers themselves, along with us. They can do it either way. As long as they're supporting the troops, that's what we're really trying to accomplish.

O'BRIEN: Excellent advice there.

Mary and Ron, thank you for joining us this morning.

And, Chris, I reiterate what everybody else told you, keep your head down. Come back nice and safe and sound. We'll get to talk to you when you're back. Also, of course, Chet and we also saw Becky and Sean and Bobby. I think I got everybody, right? You've got a big old family. M. HARPER: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: All right, thanks, you guys.

Happy holidays.

Thanks for sharing some of your time with us this morning.

M. HARPER: Thank you.

HARPER FAMILY: Merry Christmas.

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