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American Morning
Memorial Day for Family of First War Dead
Aired May 27, 2002 - 09:14 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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Memorial Day has taken on a terrible new meaning in the lives of the family of Army Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Chapman. The Green Beret was the first American soldier killed by enemy fire in Afghanistan.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Chapman's home town in Texas today, where Chapman's parents will pay special tribute to him on this first Memorial Day since he died.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL CHAPMAN, NATHAN CHAPMAN'S FATHER: The case contains the flag that was given to Lynn at the funeral. It shows his combat infantryman's badge, the one that he now has for both his service and...
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When you walk inside Will and Lynn Chapman's home, there's an instant reminder of the price this family has paid because of the war on terror. Their son, Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Chapman, was a Green Beret in the Army's Special Forces unit.
W. CHAPMAN: His Jumpmaster Wings. He was a combat scuba diver.
LAVANDERA: He was the first American soldier killed by enemy fire in Afghanistan.
W. CHAPMAN: We wanted to avoid creating a shrine to the kid. And so we thought that this was such a beautiful thing that the Army gave us, that this would be basically be the only thing that we would put out. And this looked like a good place for it.
LAVANDERA (on camera): How often do you guys come by here in the house by yourself or do you come by here and look at this?
W. CHAPMAN: I do it frequently.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Chapman was killed on January 4 by al Qaeda fighters. Almost five months later, his parents allow us into their home to talk about their son and what his life meant. Memorial Day has a way of inspiring thoughtful reflection.
(on camera): Before Nathan died, was it a holiday you paid a lot of attention to, and will that change from now on? W. CHAPMAN: To me, Memorial Day meant the day that we honored the men and women who served our country and died for our country. But those were men and women for the most part that we didn't know. Now we have son who joins those ranks, and, of course, it is now a more personal holiday.
LAVANDERA (on camera): This has been what, 4 1/2 months?
LYNN CHAPMAN: Five months.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The Chapmans have received more than 600 letters. They've responded to each one.
L. CHAPMAN: The most touching thing to us has been the letters from people who knew Nathan and told us about their experiences with him.
LAVANDERA: But there's one letter Lynne Chapman will always cherish, written by her son 12 years ago.
L. CHAPMAN: This is a letter that Nathan sent to us when he went to Panama. He jumped into Panama, and we did not know that he was gone. We were really worried. He found a piece of cardboard, wrote us this letter, just like this.
LAVANDERA (on camera): It has to make you feel good that he would go through this much trouble just to let you know everything is OK, right?
L. CHAPMAN: It really did. It really did. It was just the sweetest thing. He could write a very good letter.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Mrs. Chapman doesn't want us to show the words. She's been waiting to share them at a Memorial Day gathering with friends.
(on camera): When someone asks you what was he like, what is the first thing you say?
L. CHAPMAN: He was a happy guy. He was happy and he sensitive. He cared so much for other people.
LAVANDERA: Very likely that there'll be many more families like yours.
(voice-over): Nathan Chapman has a wife and two young children, who are also coping with the tremendous loss.
W. CHAPMAN: Nathan was the first. I guess I wish he would have been the only one. But that's not the case, and we don't know where the end will be. Freedom isn't cheap. To keep our freedom, that's a continuous battle.
L. CHAPMAN: How much that meant to him.
LAVANDERA: Lynn Chapman hopes one day she'll put all these letters and clippings in a scrapbook so that young Amanda and Brandon can learn about their heroic father.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: Now we're live in Georgetown, Texas, and this is where the ceremony where Nathan Chapman's parents will be the guests of honor later this morning. Folks here are getting ready for a ground breaking for a veteran's memorial. And that letter that Lynn Chapman was talking about during the piece that she didn't want us to show you, she'll be reading that here today.
This is the gathering where she is getting together with friends and neighbors here in Georgetown, Texas, which is about a half hour's drive north of Austin. And she'll be sharing that later on this morning.
And if you stay tuned to CNN, we'll be able to show you that and have her read that, and you'll be able to hear that letter later on -- Jack, back to you.
CAFFERTY: Ed, how do Nathan Chapman's parents feel about this ongoing war against terror in Afghanistan?
LAVANDERA: Well, they both support it fully. But in talking with them, the one interesting thing is that they both differ on how they think America's resolve is and the U.S. citizens', and how they feel about the war. Mr. Chapman says that he worries that America's resolve is waning. And as we get further away from September 11, people will have less interest in the war. Mrs. Chapman doesn't think that will happen -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: All right, Ed, thanks very much. Ed Lavandera, live in Georgetown, Texas.
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