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CNN Live Event/Special
Interview With Two Jessica Lynch Fans
Aired August 21, 2003 - 19:53 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA LYNCH, U.S. ARMY: I would like to say thank you to everyone who hopes and prayed for my safe return. For a long time, I had no idea so many people knew I had been missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Talk about your summer vacation. George and Carolyn Deno are huge Jessica Lynch fans and last month when they were visiting Tennessee, they decided to veer off the road over to Palestine, West Virginia, and get a glimpse of the former P.O.W.'s home. Well, they wound up seeing a he whole lot more. George and Carolyn Deno join us in Vermont and we're happy to bring you here to CNN. Good evening to you, there.
GEORGE DENO, JESSICA LYNCH FAN: Good evening.
HEMMER: George, I understand that you're not the only one who's trying to find the look of Jessica Lynch's home. The police have blocked off the road. How many people did you come across while you were there?
G. DENO: When we were at Jessica's?
HEMMER: That's right.
G. DENO: The police had been told to leave the night before, so there wasn't anybody there, so we had a chance to drive in.
HEMMER: Okay.
G. DENO: And we drove in and the father came out and greeted us and this is the way we got invited to go in to see Jessica.
HEMMER: So, her father comes out. Why did he choose the two of you?
G. DENO: I don't know. We were the only ones there. This was on a Saturday morning. There was nobody else there.
HEMMER: How is Jessica doing, George?
HEMMER: Well, she seems to be doing fair. She's very frail. She's very tiny. She's in a wheelchair. But she has that pretty smile, and we didn't discuss her health or anything. We just talked about different things and what we do back home. HEMMER: Carolyn, what did you talk about?
CAROLYN DENO, JESSICA LYNCH FAN: I didn't talk much. My husband did most of the talking. I asked her if we could give her a hug, you know, which she agreed. We each gave her a hug.
HEMMER: What drew you to her story?
G. DENO: Pardon?
HEMMER: What drew the two of you to Jessica Lynch's story?
G. DENO: Well we've been watch -- in fact, we've been watching your network a lot and it just bothered us when we saw that young girl when they showed how they rescued her out of the hospital, you know, such a small, young girl on a stretcher. We just watched everything. And we just felt awful about it, and so this is why our goal was to just see where she lived.
HEMMER: Carolyn I understand you were not the most willing to go ahead with this journey. Now that it's over what do you think?
C. DENO: I'm very happy now that it's over. The worst was the drive in. And the road...
HEMMER: The West Virginia mountains. Hey listen, thanks for sharing your story tonight and a vacation you'll certainly remember. Thanks.
G. DENO: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: George and Carolyn Deno in Vermont, thank you.
C. DENO: 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 August 21, 2003 - 19:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA LYNCH, U.S. ARMY: I would like to say thank you to everyone who hopes and prayed for my safe return. For a long time, I had no idea so many people knew I had been missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Talk about your summer vacation. George and Carolyn Deno are huge Jessica Lynch fans and last month when they were visiting Tennessee, they decided to veer off the road over to Palestine, West Virginia, and get a glimpse of the former P.O.W.'s home. Well, they wound up seeing a he whole lot more. George and Carolyn Deno join us in Vermont and we're happy to bring you here to CNN. Good evening to you, there.
GEORGE DENO, JESSICA LYNCH FAN: Good evening.
HEMMER: George, I understand that you're not the only one who's trying to find the look of Jessica Lynch's home. The police have blocked off the road. How many people did you come across while you were there?
G. DENO: When we were at Jessica's?
HEMMER: That's right.
G. DENO: The police had been told to leave the night before, so there wasn't anybody there, so we had a chance to drive in.
HEMMER: Okay.
G. DENO: And we drove in and the father came out and greeted us and this is the way we got invited to go in to see Jessica.
HEMMER: So, her father comes out. Why did he choose the two of you?
G. DENO: I don't know. We were the only ones there. This was on a Saturday morning. There was nobody else there.
HEMMER: How is Jessica doing, George?
HEMMER: Well, she seems to be doing fair. She's very frail. She's very tiny. She's in a wheelchair. But she has that pretty smile, and we didn't discuss her health or anything. We just talked about different things and what we do back home. HEMMER: Carolyn, what did you talk about?
CAROLYN DENO, JESSICA LYNCH FAN: I didn't talk much. My husband did most of the talking. I asked her if we could give her a hug, you know, which she agreed. We each gave her a hug.
HEMMER: What drew you to her story?
G. DENO: Pardon?
HEMMER: What drew the two of you to Jessica Lynch's story?
G. DENO: Well we've been watch -- in fact, we've been watching your network a lot and it just bothered us when we saw that young girl when they showed how they rescued her out of the hospital, you know, such a small, young girl on a stretcher. We just watched everything. And we just felt awful about it, and so this is why our goal was to just see where she lived.
HEMMER: Carolyn I understand you were not the most willing to go ahead with this journey. Now that it's over what do you think?
C. DENO: I'm very happy now that it's over. The worst was the drive in. And the road...
HEMMER: The West Virginia mountains. Hey listen, thanks for sharing your story tonight and a vacation you'll certainly remember. Thanks.
G. DENO: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: George and Carolyn Deno in Vermont, thank you.
C. DENO: 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
