This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," June 11, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
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BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Personal Story" segment tonight: As you know, 23-year-old Private William Long was assassinated last week by an American Muslim terrorist. The man, 23-year-old Carlos Bledsoe, aka Abdulhakim Muhammad, admitted to the murder and is not sorry about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDULHAKIM MUHAMMAD: I do feel that I'm not guilty behind this thing on the fact that I don't think it was murder, because murder is when a person kills another person without justified reason, and what I did was Islamic justified and also justified by common sense, you know? U.S. soldiers are killing innocent Muslim men and women, and we believe we have to stroke back. We believe that eye for an eye. We don't believe in turning the other cheek.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: Joining us now from Little Rock, Arkansas, is Private Long's father, Daris Long. And we appreciate you speaking to us, Mr. Long. We know it's a very hard time. How do you react to that kind of a statement?
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DARIS LONG, PVT. WILLIAM LONG'S FATHER: Well, I saw that last night, and I walked in and saw — looked at my wife and told her and my sister, who was sitting there, I said what a brilliant piece of humility. This guy does not mean that much to me at this point. I've lost my son. The Little Rock PD is — they're working hard on his case. Several agencies are. I have faith in them. Kind of feel like we're in the eye of a storm here. The murder. I buried my son and now the media blitz after this is just part of the deal. My son was a good son. He was — brought a lot of joy to our life. He was very close to his sister, Vanessa. She has taken this very hard. His brother, we flew back in from Fort Bliss. He's serving in the U.S. Army. Yeah, he's taking it very hard. His grandfather is taking it very hard. Our relationship, we had our ups and downs, typical of kids nowadays, you know, they're head strong, they know everything. And then a little later, your parents get a little smarter. Well, Andy decided he'd strike out and he was going to be — he wanted to join the Army. He wanted to see part of the world. He lived in Okinawa five years. We're not from Arkansas. We retired here. But he wanted to get out and he wanted to see some other things.
O'REILLY: Yeah, now one of the reasons that I think your son followed the military tradition in your family is because you, yourself, served your country for 27 years in the Marine Corps. And this makes the tragedy even worse. We have a patriotic family here. Tradition. And then, you know, and you don't need to comment on, this Mr. Long. But it got me angry that your son's assassination was not covered by the media the way it should have been, and he was not honored in the press the way he should have been. Now, we've tried our best to do it here but we went over this and over this. That's not your fight. That's my fight. Now, what kind of a guy was Andy? I mean, what kind of a kid was he? Just give the audience some idea of his personality.
LONG: Well, he was quiet. He was reserved. And you know, if he wanted to do it, he would do it. I mean, he wasn't going to get forced to do it. It was when it was his turn to do what he wanted to do, he would do it.
O'REILLY: And what was his goal as a member of the U.S. Army? What did he want to accomplish there?
LONG: Well, he was an infantryman, and he wanted to be part of the team. He really enjoyed boot camp. Whenever he had a chance to call, he would call, and we would talk over. I was a drill instructor 29 years ago, and we'd go over what was going on there. We would talk about it. And he'd get an idea. And it was really good. And he was really faithful in getting a hold of his mother and his sister. Even if he talked to me, he still wanted to talk to his mother. And you know, this whole thing, my son was not killed because he was Andy Long. Private Quinton Aquillow was not killed because he was some lady's son. They were targeted because they were U.S. soldiers.
O'REILLY: I think he wounded — the other private was wounded.
LONG: Yes, sir. I went right after the funeral. I was able to go over and see him…
O'REILLY: Right.
LONG: … and speak to him and thank him for standing with my son.
O'REILLY: Right. Now listen, they're fine Americans, as you are with your 27 years of service to the Corps. Our condolences to your family, Mr. Long, and if you need anything or anything at all we can do for you, you just let us know. And we will honor Andy's memory here, and we will make sure that people do not forget him. And if you want to make a donation — I guess you want people to donate to the Wounded Warrior Project, Mr. Long?
LONG: Yes, sir. We've donated — several organizations around Little Rock have donated to that in Andy's name. And I tell you what, I cannot believe the outpouring of sympathy…
O'REILLY: Oh, absolutely.
LONG: ...and support from not only the Army, the governor, Representative Schneider here, the people of Arkansas but all over. I have got a bucket full of cards that I need to answer.
O'REILLY: Well, and I am going to — we are going to donate $50,000 to Wounded Warriors and we are going to put that in Andy's name.
LONG: I really appreciate that.
O'REILLY: That's all right. That's the least we can do. We appreciate it, Mr. Long. Thanks very much.
LONG: Thank you, sir.
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