Return to Transcripts main page

AMERICAN MORNING

Veterans in Colorado

Aired December 12, 2003 - 08:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Scarred for life by a war, but in no way will they stop living and living as best they can.
Rick Sallinger of KCNC is with some veterans in Colorado.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SALLINGER, KCNC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a far cry from the desert of Iraq to the ski slopes of Colorado, and that's the point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, get these on first.

SALLINGER: This is a chance for Iowa National Guard Specialist B.J. Jackson and others who lost their limbs to regain their lives.

SPEC. B.J. JACKSON, U.S. ARMY: So you were in the hospital in Baghdad for a while? Did you have to (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

B.J. JACKSON: Germany.

SALLINGER: It was in August when his Humvee struck a land mine and was hit with a rocket propelled grenade. He lost his legs but not his outlook.

B.J. JACKSON: Some people (UNINTELLIGIBLE) have an attitude about it. Some people are OK with it. Some people just live it to the fullest so.

SALLINGER (on camera): And you?

B.J. JACKSON: I'm living it to the fullest.

SALLINGER (voice-over): He gained a Purple Heart, backed by the support of his wife and a nation.

ABBY JACKSON, SOLDIER'S WIFE: You do this for us and we take all our freedoms for granted and yet, like my husband, they're ready to go back and do it again.

SALLINGER: This event, sponsored by the veterans group Disabled Sports USA is one way of saying thank you.

(on camera): The distance from Iraq is not just measured in miles, but it measured in steps.

(voice-over): With both legs amputated below the knees, this soldier has come a long way, from a rehabilitation hospital in Texas to skiing in Colorado.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go for it. Don't stop.

SALLINGER: And here at Breckenridge, he's found a friend, a 6- year-old double amputee named Jonah (ph).

B.J. JACKSON: I think he's seeing that he's not the only one that's missing his legs and he and I are in the snow so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, show B.J. how good you do.

SALLINGER: Little wonder why they call what happens here miracles on the mountain.

In Breckenridge, Rick Sallinger, News 4.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: The best to them.

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