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Friday,
11 1January
2002 - 1300 PT
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Fort
Lewis, Washington
With somber
Eulogies, many tears and a few wistful chuckles,
The
Special Forces Family
and the Chapman Family
bid farewell yesterday to
SFC Nathan "Nate" Chapman
one
week after he became the first American serviceman killed by enemy fire in
Afghanistan. |
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Maj. Gen. Geoffrey
Lambert
Commander of the
US Army's Special Forces Command
recalled the slain Green Beret's mantra
"Stand
Up and Do Something"
as he honored the 31-year-old married father of two.
Lambert said he could see Chapman's legacy in his children and the
places where Chapman fought for freedom in Panama, the Persian Gulf
War, Haiti and Afghanistan.
"I can see a democratic Panama. I can see a liberated Kuwait. I
can see a small girl attending elementary school in Kabul. And I can see
terrorism on the run," Lambert said.
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Chapman, who lived in Puyallup, was killed Jan. 4 during an ambush near
Khost, a few miles from the Pakistan border. He and a CIA agent, who was
wounded, had been meeting with tribal leaders.
Special Forces Condolences Book
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A wreath of red and white carnations a remembrance from the high
school he attended in Ohio was among the floral tributes beside
Chapman's flag-draped casket at his funeral at the
Fort Lewis'
Four Chaplin's Chapel.
Nearby were Chapman's boots, Special Forces beret and M-4 rifle.
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Chapman was later buried at Tahoma National Cemetery near Covington.
Firefighters draped U.S. flags at freeway overpasses along the route of
his cortege.
The hearse bearing
his casket rolled slowly up a long drive to the gravesite, accompanied by
a line of white vans and limousines.
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Members
of the Armys
1st Special Forces Group
Honor
Guard
folded
the Flag
over the casket of SFC Nathan
"Nate" Chapman
at Tahoma National Cemetery near
Covington, Washington.
The
Soldiers took the Flags from his casket, folded them, and presented them to his widow and
his parents. |
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Maj. John Maraia,
commander of C Company in the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Special Forces
Group, in which Chapman served, said almost every conversation he'd had
with Chapman "ended in laughter."
"I only recall
seeing Nate angry once," said Maraia, one of several men who offered
eulogies for Chapman. "It was Sept. 12 or 13" just after the
Sept. 11 attacks.
"He pulled me
aside and ranted for a while. He was adamant. ... He wanted to get into
that fight."
Chapman was a
communications specialist. He completed basic and Ranger training at Fort
Benning, Ga.; graduated from Special Forces school at Fort Bragg, N.C.;
and spent most of his career at Fort Lewis.
Material
by SFAHQ.com, AP
Wire Service and
Seattle Timesused in
this Article
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