Thursday, October 12, 2006
Overhaulin' the CNN Hummer
Source: CNN One of the Hummers CNN used to cover the war in Iraq returned Thursday to the news agency's headquarters after it underwent a major renovation on The Learning Channel.As a part of the TLC show "Overhaulin'," crews transformed the Hummer, nicknamed "Warrior One," in one week. They replaced the engine, raised the body of the vehicle and air brushed images of correspondents and troops onto the Hummer's champagne-colored sides. They also added a DVD player, four televisions and a state-of-the-art sound system. TLC unveiled the revamped Hummer in front of a swarm of fans, media and CNN employees.
Some CNN correspondents who covered the war in Iraq in the Hummer viewed the changed vehicle with disbelief.
"It's great to see it like this," Michael Holmes, an anchor for CNN International, said as he peered into the clean leather interior of the vehicle.
Holmes said he remembered arriving in Baghdad, seeing the Hummer, and knowing that the other CNN crew members there were safe. Shortly before his arrival, the CNN crew, the Hummer and the Marine unit they were embedded with had come under heavy fire.
"I arrived around the day they pulled down the statue," Holmes said, referring to April 9, 2003, the day coalition forces took that war-torn Iraqi city. To celebrate, Iraqis and U.S. Marines toppled a massive statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square. That day was also when the CNN and the Marine unit came under heavy fire.
"I remember going around the square there and going back to the hotel where we were all mustering, and seeing the vehicle ... all muddy."
There's a link to a video of the overhaulin' on the story page.
# posted by ATN @ 10:57 PM 
