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American Morning

Cheshire, Massachusetts Hometown of One of Three Friendly Fire Green Beret Victims

Aired December 06, 2001 - 07:08   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's move on to what is happening in Cheshire, Massachusetts. Old Glory flies at half staff in front of city hall there and at the fire station. Cheshire is the home town of Army Sergeant Daniel Petithory, one of the three friendly fire Green Beret victims.

CNN's Bill Delaney is in the remote Western Massachusetts town this morning with reaction -- good morning, Bill.

BILL DELANEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.

We are in Cheshire, Massachusetts, nestled here in the Berkshire Mountains in the western part of the state, not all that far from the Vermont border. A town of 3,600 now very much in mourning for Sergeant First Class Daniel Petithory. He grew up here in the house right behind me here on Railroad Street, the kind of kid, his brothers said, who when everybody else on the block wanted to play baseball, he always wanted to play army.

Right out of Hoosac Valley High School he enlisted, Sergeant First Class Daniel Petithory did. Within two days after graduation he was in basic training. A guidance counselor at the high school saying he was always an easy kid to deal with because he always knew exactly what he wanted to do.

Friends say he was a practical joker, a cut up, a big guy, 6'4", 220 pounds. A practical joker, though, who was able to martial the discipline to become a Green Beret, a special forces communications specialist. He was a member of the 3rd Army Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

If there's any consolation in all of this, Paula, for his family, they say he died doing what he loved and fighting for the country that he loved -- back to you, Paula.

ZAHN: There's been so much talk, Bill, about the fog of war. Donald Rumsfeld has talked about that, many government leaders. And yet I'm sure there's going to be a much more personal reaction in that town to his death. Is there any bitterness this morning?

DELANEY: We detected no bitterness. We see the flags at half mast. We've spoken to his father. In another hour or so on CNN we'll speak to his father and his brother. There's no bitterness here. This was a young man who, as I said, always wanted to be in the army. When you're in the army -- he was also in the Gulf War, by the way -- you take your chances and the family seems to accept the fact that one of the risks of being in the special forces is that you can get killed. And this was a friendly fire incident. These things happen in war. There's a tremendous number of casualties in every battle from friendly fire, often higher than casualties from enemy fire.

You know, there's a tremendous sense of sadness here, but a sense of acceptance. He was fighting for a cause. The father said most -- he and most people in this town very much support, grief, but no bitterness here -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right, Bill Delaney, thanks so much.

As Bill did mention, later on this morning, in the nine o'clock hour of our broadcast, I'll be talking with Sergeant Petithory's brother Michael and maybe his father, as well.

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