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CNN Saturday Morning News

Family, Friends Bid Goodbye to Chapman

Aired January 12, 2002 - 11:51   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: With a number of some somber eulogies and a few amusing comments, family and friends said their goodbyes to Sergeant Nathan Chapman. His funeral was held yesterday at Fort Lewis in Washington, Chapman's home base. CNN's James Hattori reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMES HATTORI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The long journey home ended at Tahoma National Cemetery for Sergeant First Class Nathan Chapman. Comrades from the First Special Forces group at Fort Lewis served as pallbearers, laying their fallen brother to rest. Flags which draped the casket were presented to Chapman's widow, Renae, and his father Will.

Earlier during funeral services at Fort Lewis, Chapman was remembered as a devoted family man and a highly-driven warrior who volunteered for risky missions in the past to Panama, the Persian Gulf, and Haiti, just as he volunteered for Afghanistan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was adamant that we needed to do something, that we needed to strike back at those who had attacked us, and he wanted to get into that fight.

HATTORI: Chapman was killed January 4 during an attack following meetings with tribal leaders in Khowst, Afghanistan where he was collecting intelligence on al Qaeda officials.

His fellow soldiers respected him for his intensity and seriousness with which he undertook military duty, and they appreciated how he could always, no matter how grim the situation, make them laugh.

MAJ. GEN. GEOFFREY LAMBERT, U.S. ARMY: Nate, I promise the Green Berets will stand up and we'll do something, and we'll do it with distinction. God bless you.

HATTORI (on camera): Chapman leaves behind a wife, two small children, and a legacy, according to family members, as a quiet professional who truly wanted to change the world. James Hattori, CNN, Kent, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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