Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Sunday
Army Personnel in Kandahar Tunes Into Super Bowl
Aired February 03, 2002 - 17:10 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: Football fans here in the U.S. won't be the only ones tuning into the Super Bowl today. So will dozens, if not hundreds, of American soldiers stationed in Afghanistan. For more, we go to Kandahar, where CNN's Marty Savidge is standing by live there, in the midst of it.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka. I'm standing up in the bleacher section I guess you could call this at the big Super Bowl outdoor event here at Camp Kandahar. I have been to a lot of tailgait parties, but never one where I'm standing on top of a HUMVEE and never one another where it was strictly BYOMG, that's bring your own machine gun. This has got to be one of the most heavily armed Super Bowl parties ever held in the history of Super Bowls.
I'm joined here by members of Alpha Company 2187, 101st Airborne. Got the platoon leader here. Lieutenant, give me your name and where you are from.
LT. BELL, 101ST AIRBORNE: My name is Lieutenant Bell, Third Platoon leader, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), Ohio.
SAVIDGE: Now, how does it feel for the men to be able to at least watch a little bit of home right here in Afghanistan?
BELL: It is a really good morale booster. We haven't had much time, personal time to do anything. The guys have been working really hard around the clock. And very little sleep, so it's a good -- it's a very good morale booster.
SAVIDGE: We should point out that attendance here is a little low, but there is a reason for that. This is a war zone, security is still uppermost here. Most of the men and women that are working here are still out on the front-lines. Tell us about the flag you've got.
BELL: Roger. This is one of the flags that my -- one of my machine gunners was given by his mother, when he entered the Army two years. It's been with our platoon the whole time. It's been with all the deployments that we've been on, either in the field or real-world missions. It's been in the bunkers right here on the front-lines, and it's been on roaming patrols.
SAVIDGE: Sergeant, give us your name and where you are from, sir.
SGT. DELLA GARZA, 101ST AIRBORNE: Sgt. Della Garza (ph), from San Angelo, Texas.
SAVIDGE: I know you got a sign there. You want to say hello, we want to give you the opportunity to say hello.
DELLA GARZA: Hi. I want to say hi to everybody back at Fort Campbell, Tony, Andrew. Erica, I love you all. Everybody back in Del Rio, Texas, San Angelo, Texas, love you all.
SAVIDGE: I know there are a lot -- you might want to be down in New Orleans to see the game, but being here has got to be something special as well.
DELLA GARZA: Yes, it is. I'm just happy to be here and serve my country, sir.
SAVIDGE: Well, we thank you all, we wish you good luck. Stay safe guys! Enjoy the game.
(CHEERS)
SAVIDGE: It's a little before 3:00 in the morning here, so it's amazing actually that the spirits are this high. But Super Bowl and just getting it in here was a major operation, and it means a lot to the people that are gathered here.
You talk about defense and offense, the real defense is right here. Back you to you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Oh, no kidding, Marty. I'm glad to see so much energy at this hour. Hey, can you get a sense by show of applause or cheers there whether the Pats fans may outnumber the Rams fans, or vice versa there?
SAVIDGE: We'll see if we can do that. How many people here are Patriots fans?
(CHEERS)
SAVIDGE: Is there anybody here that's a Rams fan?
(CHEERS)
SAVIDGE: So, we're pretty much divided it looks like here.
WHITFIELD: What about the Super Bowl treats? I mean, is it a case of BYOMRE there too?
SAVIDGE: A lot of -- we are thinking we are going to crank you out the MREs. There was some talk there were supposed to be soft drinks. Apparently, they didn't quite make it in. And we do have microwave popcorn, but no microwave. So there you go. That's just the way it's going to be. Coffee and soup is the order of the day right now.
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's OK. I know the folks who are just happy to have that satellite dish. That alone is quite a treat. All right, thanks a lot, Martin Savidge from Kandahar there, with the troops, 101st.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
