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John Daley reportingFriends and family of a Navy pilot with deep ties to Utah, are mourning his death tonight.
Sunday the Defense Department announced Lieutenant Nathan D. White was killed April 2n when friendly fire shot down his F-A-18C Hornet.
Nathan White's sister Ana describes the Navy pilot as a good athlete, a loving family man, and a serviceman who believed deeply in his country.
Like many members of today's U-S military, Nathan White was among the best and the brightest of his generation. A husband and father of three, White grew up in Texas, the oldest son in a family of 8 children. After an LDS mission to Japan, White graduated from BYU in the mid-90s, and then chose Navy flight school over law school. There he graduated first in his class.
His older sister Ana described him as a hero. Gregarious, ambitious, athletic and fearless. White loved the intense challenge of being a pilot.
Iraq was White's first combat mission. The military told his family, his plane was mistakenly hit by a U-S Patriot missile over Basra.
Mitchell says her brother understood the risks of his chosen profession, and Americans should be grateful and proud of his bravery and sacrifice.
Nathan White's sister Ana says the family is planning a special way to remember him. They are asking friends and family to write down memories of him to be collected in a book and given to his children.
