WHITE, NATHAN DENNIS
LT   US NAVY
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 09/05/2001 - 04/02/2003
DATE OF BIRTH: 12/12/1972
DATE OF DEATH: 04/02/2003
DATE OF INTERMENT: 04/24/2003
BURIED AT: SECTION 60  SITE 7873
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - A Navy pilot killed when his fighter jet was apparently shot down by friendly fire over Iraq was a dreamer who constantly sought out challenges, his sister said Tuesday.

Lieutenant Nathan D. White, 30, was killed April 2, 2003, when his F/A-18C Hornet was apparently shot down by a U.S. Patriot missile. The military said the incident remains under investigation.

"He just had the nicest personality. There wasn't anyone who knew him that didn't like him. He could tell great stories. He was just captivating," said Ana Mitchell, White's oldest sister.

White was the second oldest of eight children who grew up in Abilene, Texas. He spent two years serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan.

He graduated from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and moved to Mesa, Arizona, to take a management job with a Dillard's department store. After a year in Mesa, White applied to law school and the Naval aviation program, deciding eventually to enter the Navy.

"Nathan was a dreamer. The sky was really the limit for the possibilities he had," Mitchell said from her Provo home. "It sounded exciting. It sounded challenging, intense."

White, the son of an Air Force pilot who fought in Vietnam, was married and had three children. He was serving a three-year stint in Japan and was deployed to the Middle East with Carrier Air Wing Five aboard the USS Kitty Hawk.

Because White's father and stepfather both served in the military during the Vietnam War, Mitchell said the family understands that friendly fire deaths sometimes occur during wartime.

"Mistakes happen that are tragic mistakes," she said. "We feel terrible, but you can't have hatred or malice toward the person that was just doing the best they could."

Still, Mitchell said it's frustrating knowing that her brother's fighter jet was likely shot down by coalition forces.

"It didn't have to happen. We're trying to accept that and work through that. It's frustrating that now he's gone. Our own people killed him," she said.

White is survived by his wife, Akiko, and children, Courtney, Austin and Zachary, who live in Japan.

Mitchell said White will likely be buried in Arlington National Cemetery but no date had been set by Tuesday. Other memorial services were planned in Japan and in Abilene, Texas, where his parents live.

24 April 2003:

Wife Akiko White and daughter Courtney stand with other family and friends during the funeral of Navy pilot Lieutenant Nathan White, 30, of Abiline,
Texas, at Arlington National Cemetery April 24, 2003. At far left is White's brother, Sergeant Josh White (R), who holds Nathan's sleeping son
Zachary. Nathan White was shot down by a patriot missile in a 'friendly fire' incident on April 2, 2003 during operations in Iraq

Akiki Ohata White, wife of Navy pilot Lt. Nathan White, and daughter,
Courtney, place their hands over their hearts during a graveside internment
ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery Thursday, April 24, 2003.

Navy pilot Lieutenant Nathan White of Mesa is laid to rest in at Arlington National  Cemetery yesterday. His father, Dennis
Manning White (standing at center), gave the  eulogy during the graveside ceremony. Nathan White, whose unit was
based in Japan, was killed by friendly fire April 2, 2003, when his F/A-18C Hornet was shot down by a U.S. Patriot missile over
Iraq. In addition to his  father, Nathan White is also by survived his wife, Akiki Ohata White, and their daughter, Courtney.

Wife Akiko White holds the folded flag as daughter Courtney wipes tears  during the funeral of Navy pilot Lieutenant
Nathan White, 30, of Texas, at  Arlington National Cemetery, April 24, 2003. In addition, his wife and
daughter, White leaves behind son Austin (seated) and Zachary (sleeping), being held by White's brother, Sergeant Josh White (R).

Wife Akiko White and daughter Courtney touch the folded U.S. flag given  to them during the funeral of Navy pilot
Lieutenant Nathan White, 30, of Texas,  at Arlington National Cemetery, April 24, 2003. In addition to his wife and
daughter, White leaves behind son Austin (seated) and Zachry (sleeping), who is  being held by White's brother, Sergeant Josh White.

Wife Akiko White holds the folded flag given to her, as daughter
Courtney wipes tears during the funeral of Navy pilot Lieutenant Nathan
White, 30, of Texas, at Arlington National Cemetery, April 24, 2003.

Two TV shows to look at downed pilot
February 20, 2004

Cooper High School graduate Nathan White was killed almost a year ago in Iraq at age 30, but his story lives on in two upcoming television programs.

One will be in Japanese and shown only in Japan. The other will be on CBS Sunday night.

White’s Navy F/A-18C Hornet was shot down April 2 by a Patriot missile during a sortie over Iraq. CBS’ 60 Minutes is airing a segment on friendly fire incidents involving the Patriot missile.

White’s father, Dennis White of Abilene, flew to New York last fall to be interviewed for the program. It is scheduled to air at 6 p.m. Sunday on KTAB-TV (Channel 32, Cox cable Channel 10).

The Japanese program will be more personal. The moment two Japanese television reporters met White aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, they were intrigued.

Not only could the young man from Abilene speak and read Japanese with ease, he also was different from other Navy pilots on board.

"Not a ‘Top Gun’ type," said Takemori Kataoka, referring to the cocky pilot that Tom Cruise played in the "Top Gun" movie.

"He was so modest and gentle," Hisashi Tsuya said.

The two journalists, along with two others from the Japan Broadcasting Corp. are in Abilene interviewing White’s family and friends.

The Japanese show is scheduled to air in mid-March to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Kataoka and Tsuya were embedded journalists on the USS Kitty Hawk.

Before coming to Abilene, the film crew was at Arlington National Cemetery, where White is buried; in Provo, Utah, for a memorial service; and in Orlando, Florida, where White’s wife and three children live.

White took two years from his college days at Brigham Young University in Provo to go on a Mormon mission trip to Japan.

While there, he became fluent in Japanese, and fell in love with the culture and a young woman named Akiko, whom he later married.

The two Japanese reporters met White in the ship’s dining hall and quickly struck up a conversation.

"He was the best friend of us on the ship," Tsuya said.

In October, Tsuya e-mailed Dennis White expressing an interest in coming to Abilene to do a story on his son. In his message, Tsuya referred to White as "the honorable naval pilot, my friend, Nathan."

Dennis White was so flattered, he quickly offered to assist any way he could.

"I know how we feel about Nathan," he said. "It’s nice that other people do, too."

Tsuya said he and Kataoka had been meeting White almost daily in the ship’s dining hall when that suddenly ended.

"We had never seen him again and were really worried about him," Tsuya said.

The two men were stunned when they learned their friend had been accidentally shot down by a Patriot missile. The memory of Nathan White wouldn’t go away, and the journalists decided they must do a television piece on him.

For the White family, the ongoing coverage of their son’s death is proving to be therapeutic rather than painful.

"This has allowed me to redirect my emotions so I can do something positive," Dennis White said.

White said he was especially pleased to see a lesson he taught his son as a youngster was apparent to people who barely knew him.

"If you’re good, people will see that," White had told his son. "And the lesson took."