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CNN Live Event/Special

Colonel David Fridovich Addresses Chapman's Death

Aired January 05, 2002 - 13:14   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.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN ANCHOR: OK. We are going to move now from the president's town hall meeting in California to a press conference at Fort Lewis in Washington, where the -- which was the home base for Sergeant First Class Nathan Ross Chapman, the Green Beret that was killed on Friday in Afghanistan.

COL. DAVID FRIDOVICH, U.S. ARMY: The Army values combined with special forces selection and training, combined to form the ethos that the Green Berets live by. Nate Chapman represents that to the tenth degree. The elan, the spirit, seeking mental and physical challenges with a deep commitment and that mental physical hardness I talked to a minute ago, but with a huge and soft heart for his family, his unit, his organization and our country.

First Special Forces group has two priorities: the mission and the family. And today, those two priorities are exactly the same. We will use and commit all of our resources to take care of that family in any way, shape or form.

Thank you.

STAFF: Colonel Fridovich's available for questions, if you'd like to ask questions.

QUESTION: You say you're going to take care of the family. What are you going to provide for them?

FRIDOVICH: My chaplain is here. Chaplain Peck (ph) is a group chaplain. There's already been a casualty assistance officer, been assigned as routine of the Army. And they will go ahead and talk about the benefits that will be afforded the family and the widow.

KARL: OK. That's Fort Lewis in Washington, where fellow Green Berets are talking about the death of Sergeant First Class Nathan Ross Chapman, the first American soldier to be killed by hostile fire in Afghanistan.

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