Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Bud Hotalen
Aired September 29, 2002 - 11:29 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: American and French forces are evacuating westerners from the rebel-held town of Kuroho (ph) in Ivory Coast ahead of an expected battle between the government troops and the rebels.
A French military spokesperson said his forces briefly exchanged with renegade soldiers at the city's airport but he described it as a minor accident. The evacuees are being flown to the relative safety of Yamoussoukro, the capitol of the West African nation.
Several hundred French-Americans and other westerners are to be airlifted from Kuroho (ph) and many of them are missionaries and aide workers.
Hundreds of people have been evacuated from another Ivory Coast town, Bouake, in the last few days. Many of the town's residents are intending to flee the area but the rebel forces are insisting that civilians must stay at home.
Now the grandson of a Georgia resident is being evacuated from the Ivory Coast -- at least the once Georgia relative is. Bud Hotalen is a retired missionary who spent almost 40 years overseas and his grandson, Jason, was a student in the Ivory Coast.
And Jason is now due to arrive back to Atlanta on Monday evening. And, Mr. Hotalen, thanks for joining us. Your son was among those few hundred students who were evacuated from the Christian missionary school and you have had dialog with him along the way. He was kind enough to send you all e-mails to fill you in on what was going on. How is he doing right now?
BUD HOTALEN, GRANDFATHER OF IVORY COAST EVACUEE: He's doing fine. He's been through evacuations twice before down in the Congo, which used to be Zaire, and also when he evacuated over to Brazeville, the French Congo, it blew up and he evacuated back into ...
So he's an old hand at this so he felt like he could encourage some of the younger students who had never been through it before.
WHITFIELD: And you are a well-traveled family. You have done this before. You have been in that very area. For about 20 years you spent ...
HOTALEN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: So you are very familiar with the vulnerabilities, the potential there. And at the same time you understood why the mission was so important -- why it is so important for so many people to be there to help in any way they can.
HOTALEN: Are you talking about the ...
WHITFIELD: The missionary work.
HOTALEN: ... missionary work? Well, we're there to assist and to work along with the church and churches. And I'm not talking about just our mission society but of the other missionary societies.
We're working with the church to stabilize -- to help stabilize the country. But, first -- our first purpose is that they might know Christ and live for him and have a hope later on to live with him.
WHITFIELD: Well, let's talk about now the -- what preceded the evacuation and the violent strike that took place just prior to the evacuation of the students.
Jason, as I said, was kind enough and very clear-minded enough to be able to construct these e-mails to keep the family informed.
We've pulled a little bit from a sampling of the e-mails that he has sent the family in the United States in order to keep everyone abreast.
On Wednesday, September 18 -- this was among some of his first transmissions to you -- all to let you know what was going on.
He didn't worry too much about his welfare. He writes, "The library monitor busted in and was very clearly scared. She yelled for everyone to get into her office and get our backs to the wall. All of the lights were turned off and everyone was made to be quiet.
Some staff began yelling at everyone to be absolutely silent and to lay down. Everyone thought that the rebels must be right outside trying to get in."
Now he was instructed by his dad a long the way. You need to write this stuff down while it's still fresh in your mind.
Your initial thoughts when you read some of his e-mails?
HOTALEN: Our initial thoughts were probably they're going to take over the school because they were already on the opposite side of the school. And there is a camp at the top of a hill about a kilometer away and they were shelling back and forth between the two and the school was in the middle. And that's the reason we were a little bit concerned that some of the shells might hit on the compound. And eventually some did but no one was harmed.
So we were concerned about it and a lot of prayer was going up so we knew it was in the Lord's hands.
WHITFIELD: And did you feel at a point knowing Jason, knowing how cool and calm he might be under such circumstances -- at least the way his writings invoked that he was very cool and calm about all of this. Did you feel that he was likely to always do the right thing and they are all going to be listening perhaps to whatever instructions they might be getting whether ...
HOTALEN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: ... it's from the leaders of the groups -- the instructors or ...
HOTALEN: We have no problems. We know that Jason will always do what's right. Now I'm not saying that he won't sometimes make mistakes and things like that.
WHITFIELD: Yeah -- he's a kid.
HOTALEN: Yeah. But he will always do what he's told to do -- he'll be obedient. And that's very important.
WHITFIELD: OK. The following Monday -- September 23 -- earlier this past week he writes, "All around me in every direction there was non-stop machine gun fire. I turned and looked towards town and saw rockets flying across the sky. In the distance I heard what I thought was tank fire.
As people were screaming and running into buildings I just stood there and watched as memory of Kinshasa came flooding back.
He yelled back and I looked up just in time to see a tracer bullet streak by the window that we were lying beside. It could not have landed more than five feet from us.
We are still waiting for the French to come and get us but we have no idea what or if that will happen."
HOTALEN: The children did not want to evacuate. But when all of this started happening then their thought were, "We'd better get out of here while we can."
And he's not the only Georgia resident there. There's some -- there are at least four others from Tacowa, Georgia (ph) that were on the compound who were dorm parents -- dormitory parents who were also in this conflict.
So he's looking at it from his point of view but they were all fearful because a lot of these parents -- a lot of these adults on the staff are out only for two years so they've never been through anything like this.
WHITFIELD: And meantime his parents are where ...
HOTALEN: They're in Abidjan.
WHITFIELD: ... while this is happening?
HOTALEN: And they were hitting the French Congo and they got stuck in Abidjan because no flights were allowed to come in. So they were stuck down there and they were hoping to see him.
WHITFIELD: And this computer -- these e-mails -- end up being the real lifeline for his parents in order to determine how he is doing ...
HOTALEN: Right.
WHITFIELD: ... and for you all, too, back here in the States.
Now one of his last notes sent on September 24 he says, "A. Shari ...," -- I'm not sure who that is -- "... told me that ..."
HOTALEN: That's his dorm mother.
WHITFIELD: OK -- there you go. " ... told me that 300 U.S. troops were coming in to get us. This definitely brightened up the day for many of us.
I got out one of my shirts with the U.S. flag on it and set it aside for when we got evacuated."
He and the other kids, as you expressed, were very excited about the idea at this point of being evacuated.
But at the same time didn't they also have some difficult feelings about the people who were to stay -- people who lived there on the Ivory Coast -- who were dealing with every day who weren't going to be rescued by U.S. troops or French troops?
HOTALEN: They were concerned about them and I think the head of this -- on the compound there -- Dan Grudda -- I think he prepared them, gave them salaries ahead of time -- the workers on the compound -- and told them to get back to their villages and stay out of the way.
What will happen to the school we have no idea.
WHITFIELD: Yeah.
HOTALEN: It could be just taken over completely and ransacked because all of these students left only with a backpack. And so all of their belongings -- and most of these kids have belongings from years -- all of them could be taken.
WHITFIELD: You almost expect to hear from Jason and perhaps some of the other kids that at some point they would want to go back, wouldn't they?
HOTALEN: Yes. If things quiet down -- he's a junior this year -- if things quiet down he would love to go back for his senior year but we just don't know.
And I'm sure the school will be much smaller because a lot of the missionaries -- their work will terminate with this conflict because they'll have to bring their children home and get them in school.
Fortunately for Jason he has his grandparents here and he'll come and live with us. He'll fly in tomorrow night.
WHITFIELD: OK. I know you all look forward to that homecoming. Well, good for you and good for Jason and all of the other children who were able to be rescued safely without harm and heading back to their respective homes. And best wishes to you and the family.
HOTALEN: Thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: Thanks for coming in. Nice to meet you. I appreciate it.
HOTALEN: Good to meet you, too.
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 September 29, 2002 - 11:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: American and French forces are evacuating westerners from the rebel-held town of Kuroho (ph) in Ivory Coast ahead of an expected battle between the government troops and the rebels.
A French military spokesperson said his forces briefly exchanged with renegade soldiers at the city's airport but he described it as a minor accident. The evacuees are being flown to the relative safety of Yamoussoukro, the capitol of the West African nation.
Several hundred French-Americans and other westerners are to be airlifted from Kuroho (ph) and many of them are missionaries and aide workers.
Hundreds of people have been evacuated from another Ivory Coast town, Bouake, in the last few days. Many of the town's residents are intending to flee the area but the rebel forces are insisting that civilians must stay at home.
Now the grandson of a Georgia resident is being evacuated from the Ivory Coast -- at least the once Georgia relative is. Bud Hotalen is a retired missionary who spent almost 40 years overseas and his grandson, Jason, was a student in the Ivory Coast.
And Jason is now due to arrive back to Atlanta on Monday evening. And, Mr. Hotalen, thanks for joining us. Your son was among those few hundred students who were evacuated from the Christian missionary school and you have had dialog with him along the way. He was kind enough to send you all e-mails to fill you in on what was going on. How is he doing right now?
BUD HOTALEN, GRANDFATHER OF IVORY COAST EVACUEE: He's doing fine. He's been through evacuations twice before down in the Congo, which used to be Zaire, and also when he evacuated over to Brazeville, the French Congo, it blew up and he evacuated back into ...
So he's an old hand at this so he felt like he could encourage some of the younger students who had never been through it before.
WHITFIELD: And you are a well-traveled family. You have done this before. You have been in that very area. For about 20 years you spent ...
HOTALEN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: So you are very familiar with the vulnerabilities, the potential there. And at the same time you understood why the mission was so important -- why it is so important for so many people to be there to help in any way they can.
HOTALEN: Are you talking about the ...
WHITFIELD: The missionary work.
HOTALEN: ... missionary work? Well, we're there to assist and to work along with the church and churches. And I'm not talking about just our mission society but of the other missionary societies.
We're working with the church to stabilize -- to help stabilize the country. But, first -- our first purpose is that they might know Christ and live for him and have a hope later on to live with him.
WHITFIELD: Well, let's talk about now the -- what preceded the evacuation and the violent strike that took place just prior to the evacuation of the students.
Jason, as I said, was kind enough and very clear-minded enough to be able to construct these e-mails to keep the family informed.
We've pulled a little bit from a sampling of the e-mails that he has sent the family in the United States in order to keep everyone abreast.
On Wednesday, September 18 -- this was among some of his first transmissions to you -- all to let you know what was going on.
He didn't worry too much about his welfare. He writes, "The library monitor busted in and was very clearly scared. She yelled for everyone to get into her office and get our backs to the wall. All of the lights were turned off and everyone was made to be quiet.
Some staff began yelling at everyone to be absolutely silent and to lay down. Everyone thought that the rebels must be right outside trying to get in."
Now he was instructed by his dad a long the way. You need to write this stuff down while it's still fresh in your mind.
Your initial thoughts when you read some of his e-mails?
HOTALEN: Our initial thoughts were probably they're going to take over the school because they were already on the opposite side of the school. And there is a camp at the top of a hill about a kilometer away and they were shelling back and forth between the two and the school was in the middle. And that's the reason we were a little bit concerned that some of the shells might hit on the compound. And eventually some did but no one was harmed.
So we were concerned about it and a lot of prayer was going up so we knew it was in the Lord's hands.
WHITFIELD: And did you feel at a point knowing Jason, knowing how cool and calm he might be under such circumstances -- at least the way his writings invoked that he was very cool and calm about all of this. Did you feel that he was likely to always do the right thing and they are all going to be listening perhaps to whatever instructions they might be getting whether ...
HOTALEN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: ... it's from the leaders of the groups -- the instructors or ...
HOTALEN: We have no problems. We know that Jason will always do what's right. Now I'm not saying that he won't sometimes make mistakes and things like that.
WHITFIELD: Yeah -- he's a kid.
HOTALEN: Yeah. But he will always do what he's told to do -- he'll be obedient. And that's very important.
WHITFIELD: OK. The following Monday -- September 23 -- earlier this past week he writes, "All around me in every direction there was non-stop machine gun fire. I turned and looked towards town and saw rockets flying across the sky. In the distance I heard what I thought was tank fire.
As people were screaming and running into buildings I just stood there and watched as memory of Kinshasa came flooding back.
He yelled back and I looked up just in time to see a tracer bullet streak by the window that we were lying beside. It could not have landed more than five feet from us.
We are still waiting for the French to come and get us but we have no idea what or if that will happen."
HOTALEN: The children did not want to evacuate. But when all of this started happening then their thought were, "We'd better get out of here while we can."
And he's not the only Georgia resident there. There's some -- there are at least four others from Tacowa, Georgia (ph) that were on the compound who were dorm parents -- dormitory parents who were also in this conflict.
So he's looking at it from his point of view but they were all fearful because a lot of these parents -- a lot of these adults on the staff are out only for two years so they've never been through anything like this.
WHITFIELD: And meantime his parents are where ...
HOTALEN: They're in Abidjan.
WHITFIELD: ... while this is happening?
HOTALEN: And they were hitting the French Congo and they got stuck in Abidjan because no flights were allowed to come in. So they were stuck down there and they were hoping to see him.
WHITFIELD: And this computer -- these e-mails -- end up being the real lifeline for his parents in order to determine how he is doing ...
HOTALEN: Right.
WHITFIELD: ... and for you all, too, back here in the States.
Now one of his last notes sent on September 24 he says, "A. Shari ...," -- I'm not sure who that is -- "... told me that ..."
HOTALEN: That's his dorm mother.
WHITFIELD: OK -- there you go. " ... told me that 300 U.S. troops were coming in to get us. This definitely brightened up the day for many of us.
I got out one of my shirts with the U.S. flag on it and set it aside for when we got evacuated."
He and the other kids, as you expressed, were very excited about the idea at this point of being evacuated.
But at the same time didn't they also have some difficult feelings about the people who were to stay -- people who lived there on the Ivory Coast -- who were dealing with every day who weren't going to be rescued by U.S. troops or French troops?
HOTALEN: They were concerned about them and I think the head of this -- on the compound there -- Dan Grudda -- I think he prepared them, gave them salaries ahead of time -- the workers on the compound -- and told them to get back to their villages and stay out of the way.
What will happen to the school we have no idea.
WHITFIELD: Yeah.
HOTALEN: It could be just taken over completely and ransacked because all of these students left only with a backpack. And so all of their belongings -- and most of these kids have belongings from years -- all of them could be taken.
WHITFIELD: You almost expect to hear from Jason and perhaps some of the other kids that at some point they would want to go back, wouldn't they?
HOTALEN: Yes. If things quiet down -- he's a junior this year -- if things quiet down he would love to go back for his senior year but we just don't know.
And I'm sure the school will be much smaller because a lot of the missionaries -- their work will terminate with this conflict because they'll have to bring their children home and get them in school.
Fortunately for Jason he has his grandparents here and he'll come and live with us. He'll fly in tomorrow night.
WHITFIELD: OK. I know you all look forward to that homecoming. Well, good for you and good for Jason and all of the other children who were able to be rescued safely without harm and heading back to their respective homes. And best wishes to you and the family.
HOTALEN: Thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: Thanks for coming in. Nice to meet you. I appreciate it.
HOTALEN: Good to meet you, too.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
