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CNN Sunday Morning

Chapman Remembered as Incredible Person

Aired January 06, 2002 - 08:23   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: The body of the first U.S. soldier killed by hostile fire in Afghanistan is expected to arrive in the U.S. sometime this week.

CNN's Frank Buckley is in Georgetown, Texas, where friends and family are sharing their memories of Sergeant First Class, 31-year- old, Nathan Ross Chapman.

Good morning to you, Frank.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Marty. As you might imagine, a very difficult weekend here in Georgetown, Texas for the parents of Nathan Chapman. And yet they've been incredibly gracious in inviting reporters in to their home throughout the day yesterday and other journalists to talk about their son.

They want people to remember Nathan Chapman, a professional soldier, a Green Beret, a U.S. special forces soldier. He served in Panama, in Haiti during the Gulf War. But he was also a father and a husband. He was a husband to Renae, his wife, and father to Amanda, 2 years old. And father to 1-year-old Brandon.

They are all in Fort Lewis, Washington, where Nathan was stationed. His parents say Nathan knew and accepted the risks of his chosen profession.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILBUR CHAPMAN, NATHAN CHAPMAN'S FATHER: People who view the military from afar view these people as fighting men who may be arrogant, may be aggressive, but they're really not that way. They are confident -- quietly confident individuals, you know, who have a job to do and they do it very professionally.

But in their home life, Nathan -- and I know that many of these other men are the same way -- had a compassion and a tenderness and a lovingness (sic) about him that seemed to belie his other work. You know, the kind of job that he had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BUCKLEY: Will and Lynn Chapman say that they have no regrets that their son had chosen this profession, to go into the U.S. Army and that he gave his life in defense of his country. And later today they plan to travel up to the Fort Lewis, Washington area to be with their grandchildren, to be with their daughter-in-law, during what will be a very difficult week for them -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: You mention, Frank, a very difficult week. I was just curious, do they have any concerns about the circumstances around how their son died and what has been described as an ambush?

BUCKLEY: Well, in terms of how their son died, they say that they -- what they have been told is very little in terms of detail. That he was involved in a small arms fire fight; that he was hit in the lower extremities and that he -- they could not stop the -- the bleeding. And they felt that -- as the president said yesterday -- that the cause was just that he was involved in. And they felt that he was doing the right thing.

SAVIDGE: Did his family say that being a Green Beret was sort of a lifelong goal?

BUCKLEY: Well, it was something that right out of high school he -- he joined the Army. He was -- he was a wrestler in high school in Centerville, Ohio, where his father was in the military for 21 years in the Air Force. So he grew up in that military culture.

But my sense from speaking to Will, his father, yesterday was that they didn't necessarily think that he was cut out to be a military guy from the time that he was a kid -- that he was a kid. That he, in fact, said that -- he related a story about his son coming home from Christmas leave a couple of years into his service in the Army. He said that he came home and he looked at him one day when they were standing in the kitchen and he said, "You know, son, every parent loves their children, but I genuinely like you. You have turned out into an outstanding person." He said that he had seen a sea change in his son, a transformation take place in the Army, and it was a transformation for the good.

SAVIDGE: Frank Buckley, thank you very much; and wonderful insight.

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