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CNN Live Sunday

San Diego Navy Family Celebrates Thanksgiving Early

Aired November 11, 2001 - 18:25   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: The U.S.S. John C. Stennis heads out to sea tomorrow, taking thousands of Marine and sailors to war. Now that's hard on the families that are left behind, especially since duty calls during the holidays.

As CNN's Hena Cuevas reports, one San Diego family tried to capture the holidays before their loved one leaves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HENA CUEVAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's an early Thanksgiving dinner for the family of one U.S. sailor in San Diego.

KEVIN: This November's close enough to Thanksgiving.

CUEVAS: Trying to fit in the holidays before Kevin, a structural engineer aboard the aircraft carrier the U.S.S. John C. Stennis most go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're getting Christmas pictures taken tomorrow.

CUEVAS: Kevin is one of the 6,000 crew members on Stennis that'll be gone for at least six months, an eternity when you have three kids, especially two small ones, like a two-year-old Logan and four-month-old Corbin.

KEVIN: A lot of (INAUDIBLE) on this. My two-year-old daughter, she's going to be growing in the six months I'm gone. I mean, each day she's learning new words and talking even more. And that's hard.

CUEVAS: Harder still because of uncertainty of the situation.

JANAE: We have no idea, none, what is going to happen, whatsoever. We don't know if they're going to be home in six months. They could be gone for a year.

CUEVAS: The family says they'll stay in touch via e-mail, sending updates and digital photos.

KEVIN: You look forward to getting the letters everyday and the e-mail or however we can stay in contact, you look forward to that day.

CUEVAS: Still, no substitute, they say, for actually being together.

KEVIN: I give a kiss to a picture every night. And that's -- the hard part is not able to actually hold onto the person, hold all my kids, hold onto my wife. When you really get home, you understand how much you missed it.

Hena Cuevas, San Diego, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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