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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Neil Mulvaney, Dwayne Turner

Aired February 08, 2004 - 09:33   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.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: A 23-year-old combat medic who served in Iraq is wearing a silver star this morning. It is the army's third highest award for action in combat. Private Dwayne Turner, wounded and bleeding himself, still found a way to treat 16 comrades under fire in Iraq last April. He's credited with treating at least two soldiers who would have died without his medical care and is being called a hero.
Turner, who is with the 101st Airborne based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky joins us from Nashville, Tennessee. Sitting beside him is Sergeant Neil Mulvaney, who was right alongside Private Turner that day.

You have both an incredible story to tell us this morning thank you very much for being with us.

SERGEANT NEIL MULVANEY, ARMY: Thank you.

CALLAWAY: Private Turner, I know you're a very modest man about telling the story, but I hope you can set the scene for everyone. This took place on April 13th last year, and your unit came under a grenade and small arms attack there about 30 miles south of Baghdad. Can you tell us what took place?

PVT. DWAYNE TURNER, ARMY: Well like you said it was a grenade and a small arms attack, pretty much we're doing some of our routine checks, and a guy lugged a grenade over one of the walls, and me and some other guys were right in the middle of the blast. I ran to the front of the vehicle and I saw some of the wounded, and I kind of sat back and assessed the situation because there were still rounds going around. I was like, well, there's guys going down and, you know, I'm not just going to leave them there. I got to doing my thing, so I started going to work.

CALLAWAY: And going to work was pulling some of these soldiers from the line of fire into an area that, into a building there, but you're leaving out the fact that that initial blast, you were hit by shrapnel in both legs, is that right?

TURNER: It was both legs and also most of my right side. My left, most of my left body was kind of in the humvee, I was getting ready to sit down in the humvee, and most of the vehicle and my right side took most of the blast.

CALLAWAY: Now, we should tell everyone that this unit was caught off guard because you were in the middle of like buying supplies and looking for unexploded ordinance there, so it wasn't like you were expecting this to happen, and when it did you got to moving these people into the building. You probably should have been there yourself, but yet then, Mr. Turner, you decided to go back out again with bullets still flying, shrapnel still flying to pull more people in. I have to say what made you do that? That is incredible.

TURNER: Pretty much, I know these guys. I know them, know them back home, we eat with these guys, we sleep with these guys, and you know, you just don't want nobody to die on your watch. They're pretty much you're brothers. You're going to war with your family. I know that my real life brother was out there, I'd go and save him. I really love these guys.

CALLAWAY: And indeed you did. You pulled in some 12 people you pulled in, and we should tell everyone that you were shot at least twice while you were doing this, right?

TURNER: Right. Yes, ma'am.

CALLAWAY: What are your memories of that part? Do you remember being shot or did you feel anything?

TURNER: I saw bullets going around and I thought actually that the bullets were hitting the ground and they were, you know, dust or rocks were popping up and hitting me, because I felt like little nicks in certain places. but other than that, I really didn't know until somebody told me, he was like "doc, doc, you're bleeding." I was like, no, that's not me, that's somebody else. Trying to pass the buck, but I guess it was.

CALLAWAY: Oh, my goodness. This is where Sergeant Neil Mulvaney comes in. Sergeant, you arrived at the scene a couple of minutes after the fighting began, right?

MULVANEY: Yes, ma'am. We got a call that we had come under fire and we rolled in. We were about a minute out with the FLA, which Turner's actually on my crew. He volunteered to go in and replace one of the other medics. When they took fire, we came in under fire. Our FLA was immediately hit with small arms fire and fragmentation. As I came to the door, it was a bad mess for the medic, several casualties lying on the ground, and Private Turner was working on several of the casualties with another medic that was also wounded during the incident. As we come in we automatically go to work on the most serious, and probably several minutes before we got back to where Turner was.

When we came back to Turner, I had to put him up against the ground, and we noticed he was bleeding quite a bit. He was getting light headed and dizzy from the loss of blood, so we bandaged him up, gave him some morphine. We didn't know how critical he was until we started actually stripping him down to see what his wounds were. From there we started medical evac, we had a helicopter on wait. And as we came out of the building with him, he's trying to help us get some guys out, hopping on one leg. And the helicopter couldn't land at first because we were taking too much fire, so we actually had to go 500 meters down road to get him and six others on the helicopter. But it seemed like a long time, but there's only a short period of time from the initial attack.

CALLAWAY: Sergeant Mulvaney, you had to think -- they call him Doc Turner, I understand. What is Doc Turner doing? The man's bleeding. You really had to restrain him, literally, physically had to restrain him and shoot him up with morphine to keep him from going back out there and rescuing more of his comrades. Isn't that right?

MULVANEY: Yes, ma'am, when we first came in, him and the other medic were fighting over who was wounded the worst. So we had to put them up against the wall and say, that's enough, you've done enough. It's time for us to do our work.

CALLAWAY: I have so say you're a hero as well, sergeant, for saving Private Turner and keeping him from going back out there again.

MULVANEY: Thank you, ma'am.

CALLAWAY: I know you feel the same way, don't you, doc?

TURNER: Yes, ma'am.

CALLAWAY: At some point, did you lose consciousness, Mr. Turner?

TURNER: I kind of laid up against the wall, that's all I remember, and I remember Sergeant Mulvaney here slapping me on the face, saying Turner, get up, get up, stay awake.

CALLAWAY: And you've been awarded this incredible honor with the Silver Star. It has to feel just terrific.

TURNER: It feels good that soldiers got to see their families again.

CALLAWAY: You rescued at least two -- we know 12 people, two would have died without you. Your thoughts on when that Silver Star was pinned on you?

TURNER: Still kind of speechless, is all. It's kind of hard to take in.

CALLAWAY: Congratulations to you, to you both, actually. Private Dwayne Turner, who has been honored with the Silver Star, and Sergeant Neil Mulvaney, thank you for being with us this morning and sharing your incredible story. And I know there are a lot of families out there that appreciate your work that day.

MULVANEY: Thank you.

TURNER: Thank you.

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 February 8, 2004 - 09:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: A 23-year-old combat medic who served in Iraq is wearing a silver star this morning. It is the army's third highest award for action in combat. Private Dwayne Turner, wounded and bleeding himself, still found a way to treat 16 comrades under fire in Iraq last April. He's credited with treating at least two soldiers who would have died without his medical care and is being called a hero.
Turner, who is with the 101st Airborne based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky joins us from Nashville, Tennessee. Sitting beside him is Sergeant Neil Mulvaney, who was right alongside Private Turner that day.

You have both an incredible story to tell us this morning thank you very much for being with us.

SERGEANT NEIL MULVANEY, ARMY: Thank you.

CALLAWAY: Private Turner, I know you're a very modest man about telling the story, but I hope you can set the scene for everyone. This took place on April 13th last year, and your unit came under a grenade and small arms attack there about 30 miles south of Baghdad. Can you tell us what took place?

PVT. DWAYNE TURNER, ARMY: Well like you said it was a grenade and a small arms attack, pretty much we're doing some of our routine checks, and a guy lugged a grenade over one of the walls, and me and some other guys were right in the middle of the blast. I ran to the front of the vehicle and I saw some of the wounded, and I kind of sat back and assessed the situation because there were still rounds going around. I was like, well, there's guys going down and, you know, I'm not just going to leave them there. I got to doing my thing, so I started going to work.

CALLAWAY: And going to work was pulling some of these soldiers from the line of fire into an area that, into a building there, but you're leaving out the fact that that initial blast, you were hit by shrapnel in both legs, is that right?

TURNER: It was both legs and also most of my right side. My left, most of my left body was kind of in the humvee, I was getting ready to sit down in the humvee, and most of the vehicle and my right side took most of the blast.

CALLAWAY: Now, we should tell everyone that this unit was caught off guard because you were in the middle of like buying supplies and looking for unexploded ordinance there, so it wasn't like you were expecting this to happen, and when it did you got to moving these people into the building. You probably should have been there yourself, but yet then, Mr. Turner, you decided to go back out again with bullets still flying, shrapnel still flying to pull more people in. I have to say what made you do that? That is incredible.

TURNER: Pretty much, I know these guys. I know them, know them back home, we eat with these guys, we sleep with these guys, and you know, you just don't want nobody to die on your watch. They're pretty much you're brothers. You're going to war with your family. I know that my real life brother was out there, I'd go and save him. I really love these guys.

CALLAWAY: And indeed you did. You pulled in some 12 people you pulled in, and we should tell everyone that you were shot at least twice while you were doing this, right?

TURNER: Right. Yes, ma'am.

CALLAWAY: What are your memories of that part? Do you remember being shot or did you feel anything?

TURNER: I saw bullets going around and I thought actually that the bullets were hitting the ground and they were, you know, dust or rocks were popping up and hitting me, because I felt like little nicks in certain places. but other than that, I really didn't know until somebody told me, he was like "doc, doc, you're bleeding." I was like, no, that's not me, that's somebody else. Trying to pass the buck, but I guess it was.

CALLAWAY: Oh, my goodness. This is where Sergeant Neil Mulvaney comes in. Sergeant, you arrived at the scene a couple of minutes after the fighting began, right?

MULVANEY: Yes, ma'am. We got a call that we had come under fire and we rolled in. We were about a minute out with the FLA, which Turner's actually on my crew. He volunteered to go in and replace one of the other medics. When they took fire, we came in under fire. Our FLA was immediately hit with small arms fire and fragmentation. As I came to the door, it was a bad mess for the medic, several casualties lying on the ground, and Private Turner was working on several of the casualties with another medic that was also wounded during the incident. As we come in we automatically go to work on the most serious, and probably several minutes before we got back to where Turner was.

When we came back to Turner, I had to put him up against the ground, and we noticed he was bleeding quite a bit. He was getting light headed and dizzy from the loss of blood, so we bandaged him up, gave him some morphine. We didn't know how critical he was until we started actually stripping him down to see what his wounds were. From there we started medical evac, we had a helicopter on wait. And as we came out of the building with him, he's trying to help us get some guys out, hopping on one leg. And the helicopter couldn't land at first because we were taking too much fire, so we actually had to go 500 meters down road to get him and six others on the helicopter. But it seemed like a long time, but there's only a short period of time from the initial attack.

CALLAWAY: Sergeant Mulvaney, you had to think -- they call him Doc Turner, I understand. What is Doc Turner doing? The man's bleeding. You really had to restrain him, literally, physically had to restrain him and shoot him up with morphine to keep him from going back out there and rescuing more of his comrades. Isn't that right?

MULVANEY: Yes, ma'am, when we first came in, him and the other medic were fighting over who was wounded the worst. So we had to put them up against the wall and say, that's enough, you've done enough. It's time for us to do our work.

CALLAWAY: I have so say you're a hero as well, sergeant, for saving Private Turner and keeping him from going back out there again.

MULVANEY: Thank you, ma'am.

CALLAWAY: I know you feel the same way, don't you, doc?

TURNER: Yes, ma'am.

CALLAWAY: At some point, did you lose consciousness, Mr. Turner?

TURNER: I kind of laid up against the wall, that's all I remember, and I remember Sergeant Mulvaney here slapping me on the face, saying Turner, get up, get up, stay awake.

CALLAWAY: And you've been awarded this incredible honor with the Silver Star. It has to feel just terrific.

TURNER: It feels good that soldiers got to see their families again.

CALLAWAY: You rescued at least two -- we know 12 people, two would have died without you. Your thoughts on when that Silver Star was pinned on you?

TURNER: Still kind of speechless, is all. It's kind of hard to take in.

CALLAWAY: Congratulations to you, to you both, actually. Private Dwayne Turner, who has been honored with the Silver Star, and Sergeant Neil Mulvaney, thank you for being with us this morning and sharing your incredible story. And I know there are a lot of families out there that appreciate your work that day.

MULVANEY: Thank you.

TURNER: Thank you.

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