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American Morning
101st Homecoming
Aired January 07, 2004 - 08:33 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 first of what will eventually be 20,000 members of the military's famed 101st Airborne Division are back at their old Kentucky home. They began arriving this morning at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, after nearly a year in the Persian Gulf region.
Ed Lavandera is there for us this morning.
Ed -- good morning.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN DALLAS BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Soledad.
Well, these soldiers started arriving actually about 1:30 this morning -- the first round of soldiers, 200 of them arriving in the middle of the night here. This is the second batch. And you know it's good to be home when a Miami Air charter jet is what's flying you home.
But it's not warm here. It's a very chilly morning. About 100 soldiers making their way, as you see them here. They're on their way into a hanger here at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where they will take part in a brief ceremony and then be given a three-day pass to enjoy the time with their loved ones.
And one of the family members that is here is a woman named Tammy Straw (ph), who is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her husband. Tell us about him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: David enlisted, January will have been two years ago, and we've been together five months out of that time. We have three daughters waiting for their daddy in Georgia.
LAVANDERA: Now there is a hitch to that. They don't know daddy is coming home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't know he's coming home yet. I wanted it to be a surprise, a little bit of a late new year surprise, but a surprise altogether.
LAVANDERA: How are you holding up?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I'm an emotional wreck. I drove up yesterday from Georgia, and I don't know how I made it, honestly. I cried almost the entire way.
LAVANDERA: Well, we hope nice things for you here. Tammy (ph) is actually a little nervous. As her husband comes off the rope line, they've been told to get inside the hanger, and she's hoping to sneak a hug. This morning, they did a lot of that, so I told her that, and she seemed to be a little anxious.
In fact, there he is. That's her husband right there, smiling at her, but he's following the orders. He's going inside, and Tammy (ph) will have to wait for a hug.
But there you see the soldiers coming off, Soledad, from the Miami Air charter jet, these soldiers making their way inside the hanger, a lot of smiles.
I can tell you it was very emotional here this morning when 200 of these soldiers were coming home and talking to their families. And inside this hanger it will be a very emotional time after this brief ceremony is over. So, a lot of these soldiers are kind of taking it all in. I think a lot of them have been kind of surprised that this many people have shown up to greet them home and to see all of that. So, as you might imagine, a very emotion time for them -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: I can only imagine, Ed. And, of course, good for Tammy (ph) and her family and all of the families that are waiting this morning. And she'll get a hug, maybe not in the next two minutes, but she'll get it soon. Ed Lavandera reporting for us live this morning with some great news.
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 January 7, 2004 - 08:33 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 first of what will eventually be 20,000 members of the military's famed 101st Airborne Division are back at their old Kentucky home. They began arriving this morning at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, after nearly a year in the Persian Gulf region.
Ed Lavandera is there for us this morning.
Ed -- good morning.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN DALLAS BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Soledad.
Well, these soldiers started arriving actually about 1:30 this morning -- the first round of soldiers, 200 of them arriving in the middle of the night here. This is the second batch. And you know it's good to be home when a Miami Air charter jet is what's flying you home.
But it's not warm here. It's a very chilly morning. About 100 soldiers making their way, as you see them here. They're on their way into a hanger here at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where they will take part in a brief ceremony and then be given a three-day pass to enjoy the time with their loved ones.
And one of the family members that is here is a woman named Tammy Straw (ph), who is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her husband. Tell us about him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: David enlisted, January will have been two years ago, and we've been together five months out of that time. We have three daughters waiting for their daddy in Georgia.
LAVANDERA: Now there is a hitch to that. They don't know daddy is coming home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't know he's coming home yet. I wanted it to be a surprise, a little bit of a late new year surprise, but a surprise altogether.
LAVANDERA: How are you holding up?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I'm an emotional wreck. I drove up yesterday from Georgia, and I don't know how I made it, honestly. I cried almost the entire way.
LAVANDERA: Well, we hope nice things for you here. Tammy (ph) is actually a little nervous. As her husband comes off the rope line, they've been told to get inside the hanger, and she's hoping to sneak a hug. This morning, they did a lot of that, so I told her that, and she seemed to be a little anxious.
In fact, there he is. That's her husband right there, smiling at her, but he's following the orders. He's going inside, and Tammy (ph) will have to wait for a hug.
But there you see the soldiers coming off, Soledad, from the Miami Air charter jet, these soldiers making their way inside the hanger, a lot of smiles.
I can tell you it was very emotional here this morning when 200 of these soldiers were coming home and talking to their families. And inside this hanger it will be a very emotional time after this brief ceremony is over. So, a lot of these soldiers are kind of taking it all in. I think a lot of them have been kind of surprised that this many people have shown up to greet them home and to see all of that. So, as you might imagine, a very emotion time for them -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: I can only imagine, Ed. And, of course, good for Tammy (ph) and her family and all of the families that are waiting this morning. And she'll get a hug, maybe not in the next two minutes, but she'll get it soon. Ed Lavandera reporting for us live this morning with some great news.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
