Associated Press
FORT LEWIS — William Pence first latched onto Nathan Chapman when both were green Army privates because of Chapman’s skills in communications and computers — Pence’s weak areas.
Soon, however, Pence realized he had made a lifelong friend.
No matter how bad it was, "he always made you laugh," a tearful Pence said Saturday. "Right off the bat I was pulled to him because he was always smiling, laughing and joking around."
Chapman, 31, a Sgt. 1st Class, was killed in action Friday. He was the first U.S. soldier slain by enemy fire during the war in Afghanistan.
Pence and several other former colleagues of Chapman gathered at Fort Lewis to share their memories of him.
Pence said he’d felt fortunate that, 14 years after they had met, both he and Chapman were Sgts. 1st Class stationed on the same base.
Chapman served most of his military career at Fort Lewis, where a flag flew at half-staff Saturday. Soon, Chapman’s name will added to a list on a memorial stone at the base, behind that of Maj. Wallace Cole Hogan Jr., 40, who died in the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon.
"It brings the war home," said Col. David Fridovich, Chapman’s group commander.
Chapman was a family man who always went out of his way to help others at work, recalled Capt. Edwin Hoenig, who worked with Chapman at Fort Lewis.
He leaves behind a wife, Renae, and two children, Amanda, 2, and Brandon, 1, in Puyallup. Chapman called San Antonio home. His parents live in Georgetown, Texas, about 100 miles northeast of San Antonio.
"He was always the go-to person for people on other teams," Hoenig said. "He was a very charismatic person — people loved working with him, and he loved working with soldiers."
He was competitive with other soldiers, striving to be the strongest and fastest, Hoenig said.
"He was as strong as an ox," Hoenig said.
Hoenig said Chapman’s primary duty as a Green Beret communications specialist was working with long-range communications and electronic equipment for his team. But he was also trained in weapons.
Chapman was part of a U.S. team operating near the town of Khost, a few miles from the Pakistan border, when he was hit, military officials said.
Chapman’s remains were to be flown to a base in Germany, where officials said they would arrange transportation back to Fort Lewis, likely by midweek. Funeral and burial details had not been finalized Saturday.
Since the war in Afghanistan began, Chapman had been assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell, Ky., said Maj. Gary Kolb, a spokesman for Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Fridovich said several people were interviewed for Chapman’s position, but he was chosen based on his skills with radio equipment.
"I can assure the parents and loved ones of Nathan Chapman that he lost his life for a cause that is just and important," President Bush said Saturday in Ontario, Calif.
Pence and Hoenig said they have not lost faith in the country’s mission.
"Nate volunteered to go on this mission," Hoenig said. "We’re fighting for a good cause, and Nate would be willing to go and do that again."
Chapman spoke Tagalog, one of the major languages of the Philippines. That helped him communicate with other soldiers without needing a translator during some missions, Hoenig said.
"The guy had so many good qualities," Pence said. "I don’t know how to sum it up. If I had to be over there right now, I would want Nate next to me."
Chapman was born on April 23, 1970, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. He joined the Army after his 1988 graduation from high school in Centerville, Ohio.
Associated Press
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