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CNN Live Sunday

Not Home for the Holidays

Aired December 29, 2002 - 18:10   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.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Put North Korea aside for just a moment and consider there is still Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The U.S. is sending more forces and equipment now to the Persian Gulf. Many troops are getting their marching orders at a time when families are just craving that extra closeness during the holidays. Well, here's CNN's Whitney Casey with how one family is coping.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): So every time you talk to him just what do you tell him?

WALTER PEREZ: I love him and I'm proud of him.

CASEY: For 11-year-old Walter Perez and his four other siblings, Christmas and Thanksgiving this year were both missing something. That's your dad?

W. PEREZ: That's my daddy holding that.

CASEY: It's their father, Staff Sergeant Tomas Perez just called into active duty the day before Thanksgiving. Perez has served 18 years as an Army reservist for the 773rd Transportation Company in Queens, New York, his civilian job, 50 hours a week as a truck driver. Now he's in Kuwait training Army drivers to carry fuel, food, and ammunition to units in the field should the U.S. go to war. His orders call for 365 days of service.

APRIL PEREZ: In our hearts he's already a hero.

CASEY: But when April Perez found out her husband was being sent to Kuwait for a year another surprise was on its way. What did you do when you found out you were having a boy?

A. PEREZ: Well, she said don't scream whatever you do because you know mothers are there and I said okay, I won't. I promise and she said it's a boy. I screamed.

CASEY: A family of five children now with a sixth one on its way and with Tomas gone, April can't work. Okay, so you're taking care of five kids. You're pregnant and you're trying to save money, moved in with your dad and you're going to hold up for a year like this.

A. PEREZ: That's all yes I think God is with me. Somebody's with me. Somebody, I think God doesn't give you what you can't handle, just almost there. CASEY: April also says when times get tough, she re-reads Tomas' letters.

A. PEREZ: I love you with all my heart, truly yours, Tomas Perez Perez. It's hard to call. Phone lines are down. They only have a couple of phones. They're called morale phones but there's a two hour wait for the phones to call home.

CASEY: And before he left for their children, Tomas made a going away video, and when the video is playing it's the only time in the house when everyone is quiet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY: Now, Perez' service orders are for 365 days but if the U.S. does decide to go to war, they could be extended to two years. That means his now unborn son when he returns home will be over a year and a half old. Now, as for April Perez, she's not only a mother and a wife and a head of a household, she's also the head of an organization called the Family Support Unit, full of families just like her that have reservists that have been called up. She's a family of five and she also takes care of 131 other families -- Carol.

LIN: Good Lord, Whitney, what a remarkable woman.

CASEY: Certainly.

LIN: All right, let's hope that her husband does get a chance to come home sooner than two years. Thanks so much, Whitney Casey.

CASEY: Sure.

LIN: And welcome to CNN, by the way, a great addition to the family.

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 December 29, 2002 - 18:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Put North Korea aside for just a moment and consider there is still Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The U.S. is sending more forces and equipment now to the Persian Gulf. Many troops are getting their marching orders at a time when families are just craving that extra closeness during the holidays. Well, here's CNN's Whitney Casey with how one family is coping.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): So every time you talk to him just what do you tell him?

WALTER PEREZ: I love him and I'm proud of him.

CASEY: For 11-year-old Walter Perez and his four other siblings, Christmas and Thanksgiving this year were both missing something. That's your dad?

W. PEREZ: That's my daddy holding that.

CASEY: It's their father, Staff Sergeant Tomas Perez just called into active duty the day before Thanksgiving. Perez has served 18 years as an Army reservist for the 773rd Transportation Company in Queens, New York, his civilian job, 50 hours a week as a truck driver. Now he's in Kuwait training Army drivers to carry fuel, food, and ammunition to units in the field should the U.S. go to war. His orders call for 365 days of service.

APRIL PEREZ: In our hearts he's already a hero.

CASEY: But when April Perez found out her husband was being sent to Kuwait for a year another surprise was on its way. What did you do when you found out you were having a boy?

A. PEREZ: Well, she said don't scream whatever you do because you know mothers are there and I said okay, I won't. I promise and she said it's a boy. I screamed.

CASEY: A family of five children now with a sixth one on its way and with Tomas gone, April can't work. Okay, so you're taking care of five kids. You're pregnant and you're trying to save money, moved in with your dad and you're going to hold up for a year like this.

A. PEREZ: That's all yes I think God is with me. Somebody's with me. Somebody, I think God doesn't give you what you can't handle, just almost there. CASEY: April also says when times get tough, she re-reads Tomas' letters.

A. PEREZ: I love you with all my heart, truly yours, Tomas Perez Perez. It's hard to call. Phone lines are down. They only have a couple of phones. They're called morale phones but there's a two hour wait for the phones to call home.

CASEY: And before he left for their children, Tomas made a going away video, and when the video is playing it's the only time in the house when everyone is quiet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY: Now, Perez' service orders are for 365 days but if the U.S. does decide to go to war, they could be extended to two years. That means his now unborn son when he returns home will be over a year and a half old. Now, as for April Perez, she's not only a mother and a wife and a head of a household, she's also the head of an organization called the Family Support Unit, full of families just like her that have reservists that have been called up. She's a family of five and she also takes care of 131 other families -- Carol.

LIN: Good Lord, Whitney, what a remarkable woman.

CASEY: Certainly.

LIN: All right, let's hope that her husband does get a chance to come home sooner than two years. Thanks so much, Whitney Casey.

CASEY: Sure.

LIN: And welcome to CNN, by the way, a great addition to the family.

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