WEBVTT

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welcome back everybody today . On

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memorial day we honor the men and the

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women who have given their lives in

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service to our country . But this

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holiday is also a time to pay tribute

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to the soldiers that are fighting in

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wars abroad right now . ErIC leon is a

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First Lieutenant in the National Guard

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serving in Afghanistan and joins us

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this morning . ErIC it's great to have

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you with us here . And I want to start

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by saying thank you for being with us .

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Thank you for your service to our

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nation . But explain to all of us as I

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know you've only been in Afghanistan a

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short time . And this is your first

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memorial day abroad serving in our

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nation's military . What does it mean

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to you and your fellow troops while we

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remain at war as a country ?

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Well , first of all , mr roberts ,

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thank you for the opportunity to be

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here with you . It's very much

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appreciated uh our mission over here

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specifically , it's a for my troops ,

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we are part of the withdrawal element

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from Afghanistan . So it's a very

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interesting mission to be where right

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now , where the rubber meets the road

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for sending equipment , vehicles and

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supplies back home from theater , back

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to the United States . So it puts us at

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an interesting point given the current

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policy and climate back home . First

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Lieutenant , I just want to tell you

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that I got somebody kind of special

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here with me on set . It is your wife

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Melissa who we can now you can peek

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over this way melissa if you want to

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get a better look at your hubby there .

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I know you guys haven't seen each other

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in a couple of months and you do Skype .

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What does it mean to you ? To see eric ?

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What does it mean to you to talk ?

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Because I know you haven't an

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opportunity to really see or talk in

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five weeks or so . It's so special . I

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mean I can't stop smiling right now .

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Hi babe . It's really , really exciting

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to see honey . I don't have the video

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feed of you over here but it's great .

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It's great . You look great honey , I'm

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so proud of him and it's so it's so

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special to see him right now and it

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means a lot when we talk about And

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you've been sitting here with me ,

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we've been trying to work on this uh

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for everybody at home . We've been

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working on this reunion uh throughout

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the hour , making sure that we got the

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shot . Just right . So Melissa's been

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sitting here graciously waiting

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patiently uh to have this time together .

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And ERic , she's been hearing me do

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interviews with a lot of our special

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guests that we've had today . So

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Melissa , I want to ask you as Eric has

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been away for over two months . This is

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his first time abroad serving in

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Afghanistan we're talking about ? The

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troop drawdown . They're coming up by

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the end of 2014 . What type of stress

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does this put on you , your new wife ,

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you've only been married under two

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years . The stress that this puts on

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you and your relationship as a young

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wife who is back here at home . I mean

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obviously it's it's difficult , it's

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difficult being a newly married couple

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in general . So it's um it's stressful

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at times , but it's nice being able to

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talk to him and you know , when we can

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get to talk on the phone . And it's

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just I think we realize the importance

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of having such a strong relationship ,

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especially when he's overseas . So I

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keep that in mind and it makes the time

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go by a lot faster . Eric you have you

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have a very proud wife back here in the

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state . She was telling me all about

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how you were an ROTC went to N . Y . U .

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And then you were commissioned uh for

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the army . Tell us about the experience

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of Afghanistan , what you've seen over

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the short period of time that you've

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been there . And also about when do you

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believe you'll be coming back home ?

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Well , to answer your question of moral ,

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that is a very special time even over

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here and it's special to us because

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it's a time to remember and honor our

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fallen brothers and sisters uh back

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home , I think of barbecues . But over

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here it brings on the true meaning of

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the holiday . Uh say , I

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mean , being separated from my wife ,

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that definitely is a challenge . But at

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the same time it helps our relationship

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grow uh soldiers I'm with where all new

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york National Guard and I think that's

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a very special bond we share . Uh I'd

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really like to tell the public back at

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home . It's amazing . I work with

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active duty reservists , sailors ,

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civilians , civilian contractors ,

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afghans . The amount of teamwork over

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here towards a common purpose is

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incredibly impressive . And eric , do

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you know when you're gonna be coming

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home ? Do you have any timetable yet ?

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We can give melissa a big surprise if

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we have a date . Uh huh . It should be

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sometime next year and as soon as I

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know for sure , without a doubt she'll

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be the first . Alright , well we hope

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you guys get to Skype a little better

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eric so you can see your beautiful wife

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next time , face to face . But I know

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melissa , this has been fun for you .

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Wonderful . Thank you . And he looks

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good , right ? Looks great , looks

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great . He does look ERic . Thanks

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again , we appreciate your time and

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your service this morning . Melissa ,

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thank you for allowing us to share .

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Thank you . Thank you . Thank you . And

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again , our thanks to this lovely

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couple