Slain soldier remembered for laughter, dedication
Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific
seattletimes.nwsource.com
By Ray Rivera and Gina Kim
Seattle Times staff reporters
Nathan R. Chapman
FORT LEWIS — Nathan R. Chapman would have been just the man his unit needed on a day like this, as its members mourned the loss of a close friend.
"He always seemed to know what to say," said Lt. Col. Roger Griffin, Chapman's former battalion commander. "No matter how bad the circumstances, he could always pop up with a joke to lighten the situation."
Chapman, 31, a sergeant first class, became the first U.S. soldier to die from enemy fire in Afghanistan when he and a CIA officer were gunned down in an ambush Friday. Chapman died of small-arms fire. The CIA officer is expected to survive.
President Bush said Chapman died for freedom.
"I want Sgt. Chapman's family to know that the cause for which he died is just and noble," Bush said yesterday during a speech in Portland. "And (for) the hope that our children and grandchildren will be able to grow up in a world that is free of the barbaric behavior of terrorism."
GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Fort Lewis Special Forces Sgt. 1st Class William Pence talks about his friend Nathan R. Chapman as Special Forces Group commander, Col. David Fridovich, wipes away a tear.
Friends and former colleagues of Chapman's gathered at Fort Lewis yesterday to recall a serious soldier and family man whose wit was sharpest when things were bad.
"He always made you laugh," said Sgt. 1st Class William Pence, who came up through the ranks with Chapman in a Rangers battalion and then as Green Berets.
Chapman served most of his 12-year military career at Fort Lewis, where flags flew at half-staff yesterday. He was a member of 1st Special Forces Group until he volunteered to serve in Afghanistan at the outbreak of the war on terrorism. Inside the group's gated compound, Chapman's name will be added to a memorial stone, behind that of Maj. Wallace Cole Hogan Jr., who died in the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon.
"He was a very charismatic person," Capt. Edwin Hoenig said of Chapman. "People loved working with him, and he loved working with soldiers."
Chapman, a brawny Texas native with a warm smile, was "strong as an ox," Hoenig said.
HARRY CABLUCK / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Will and Lynn Chapman of Georgetown, Texas, hold a photo of slain son Nathan in uniform.
Chapman leaves a wife, Renae, and two children, Amanda, 2, and Brandon, 1. They live in Puyallup. Army officials said Chapman's widow has asked for privacy.
Funeral arrangements had not been completed yesterday. Chapman's remains were to be flown to a base in Germany and back to Fort Lewis, likely by midweek.
Hoenig said Chapman's primary duty as a communications specialist was working with long-range equipment for his Green Beret team. He also was trained in weapons and taught courses in sniper fire.
Military officials said Chapman and the CIA officer were ambushed as they left a meeting with tribal leaders in Afghanistan's Paktia province, near where U.S. warplanes had struck several al-Qaida and Taliban targets recently.
Chapman was always adventuresome, his father said. Speaking by telephone from his home in Georgetown, Texas, Will Chapman said the younger of his two sons loved the outdoors, athletics and competition. "You might say he had a penchant, even when he was young, to live on the edge," his father said. "He just was a kid who could do things without regard to life or limb."
And he was headstrong.
At 16, Chapman wanted to buy a dirt-bike motorcycle from a neighbor. After his parents refused, his father made a casual remark that the dirt bike didn't work anyway.
"I think I left him with the impression that if the bike worked, he would have a chance to buy it," Will Chapman recalled. "So I walked into his room, and in the middle of the floor was a hunk of 1/2-inch plywood and the engine of the dirt bike, oil and all. And he was working on it. His room smelled like a garage."
Born on Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland while his father was stationed there, Nathan Chapman grew up all over the United States, including Federal Way; Montgomery, Ala.; Las Vegas; and Centerville, Ohio, near Dayton. After retiring from the Air Force, Will Chapman worked as a regional manager for Electronic Data Systems, which moved the family frequently.
After joining the military at 18, Nathan Chapman rarely talked about his deployments, which included assignments in Japan, Panama and Haiti. He met his future wife while stationed at Fort Lewis. Will Chapman said his son would have considered defending his country just part of the job, a job he loved.
"You could tell he loved what he was doing because it fit his personality," his father said. "He had a keen sense of duty, and he wanted to serve. And he picked this way to do it." |
