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Operation Anaconda Draws to a Close

Aired March 18, 2002 - 06:05   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 COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The head of U.S. Central Command made news today at a medal ceremony for U.S. military personnel.

CNN's Martin Savidge is at the Bagram Air Base event in Afghanistan, and he joins us live with the story -- good morning, Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Carol. Yes, as you mentioned, Operation Anaconda, it is day 17, but the end is finally here -- only down to the last few hours as a matter of fact, according to the overall commander of forces here in Afghanistan, General Tommy Franks. He says that he is very pleased with the way that operation went.

This was a day, though, not so much to focus on Operation Anaconda, but those that served in it, especially in those very difficult and very fierce days of the beginning of Operation Anaconda. There were five Bronze Stars that were handed out to those soldiers for either valor or for meritorious conduct under fire. Four soldiers were on stage to receive them. The man who was actually pinning those soldiers was the general himself, General Tommy Franks.

And it was a very special ceremony. Inside that hangar, there was -- I guess the best way to describe it just a great sense of pride as one of those that was looking on, knowing the commitment of the soldiers that were involved.

And one of those soldiers who received the medal was Staff Sergeant Randel Perez. He joins us now -- congratulations to you.

STAFF SGT. RANDEL PEREZ, BRONZE STAR RECIPIENT: Thank you very much, sir.

SAVIDGE: What were you thinking? What were you feeling standing up there before your soldiers?

PEREZ: A sense of pride knowing that even though we did take some casualties, we were able to all still come out together and on top, and the guys who sustained casualties will be fine and be able to recover and be back on the ranks with us pretty soon.

SAVIDGE: Take us back -- this was the first day of Operation Anaconda.

PEREZ: Yes, sir. It was 2 March.

SAVIDGE: What happened?

PEREZ: We got to the LZ, dropped down and basically as soon as we got out, we started taking RPG, small-arms fire and mortar fire as soon as we hit the ground. For the next 18 hours, there were pretty intense firefights.

SAVIDGE: And you actually have to take over at some point.

PEREZ: Yes. As I said, we took two casualties, Lieutenant Brad Moyka (ph) and Sergeant First Class Tom Matters (ph) were injured, who was the PL, Platoon Sergeant. So being the senior squad leader, I had to assume the role of the PL.

SAVIDGE: And what were you thinking at that time? I mean, it must have been a very hairy situation at that time.

PEREZ: It pretty much was a hairy situation, but the thing was that from training, from operations that we had already conducted, we have always trained to where we already know one man -- two men go down, just everybody assumes the next high role. We train to know two positions up and one position down. So as soon as I got word that Lieutenant Moyka (ph) was down, I automatically knew that I was going to have to assume the role of Platoon Leader.

SAVIDGE: Did you have to think about it? I mean, did you think what you were doing, or was it automatic?

PEREZ: As I previously stated, the only thing I was thinking about is, hey, this is the big exam and it's time to take the test. And l like I said, we took the test and we passed.

SAVIDGE: You did. You certainly did. Do you feel a change in yourself as a soldier and maybe the other soldiers around you now that you have been through combat?

PEREZ: A change in that we just look at ourselves that, you know, we are a little bit more seasoned, ready for the next operations if there are some to kick off, and we'll know exactly what we are facing this time.

SAVIDGE: Were you glad to be a part of combat here in Afghanistan, given, I guess, what happened September 11?

PEREZ: I am glad, yes, in the fact that, you know, that's the best motivation factor for a lot of these soldiers. We have been here for a long time, around six months now. And as operations come up, you know, the remembrance of September 11 kind of gears us up and gets us motivated for the next operation.

SAVIDGE: I'm sure it would. Staff Sergeant again, congratulations -- thank you very much for joining us.

PEREZ: Thank you, sir. SAVIDGE: So again, Operation Anaconda just about done; more operations yet to come. When and where, the military isn't saying -- back to you.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you -- Martin Savidge reporting live for us from Afghanistan this morning.

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