Monday, April 07 2003 @ 10:47 AM EST
Contributed by: tomw CBSNEWS.com - Army Marine Sgt. Michael Pedersen, 26, of Flint, Mich., joined the Army right out of high school and was a great father to his 7-year-old daughter, his widow said April 5.
A Flint, Mich., native who was one of six soldiers killed in the crash of an Army Black Hawk helicopter during a fire fight in Iraq, was a helicopter crew chief with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division based in Fort Steward, Ga.
"He was a quiet person," said his wife, Chanel Pedersen, 24. "A great father. He loved his daughter. He was an excellent soldier."
She said she met her husband while growing up in Flint. She said they attended the same high school before they married in 1997, but had been separated at the time of his death.
In recent days, Chanel Pedersen said she has told their daughter, Destiny, that her father won't be back.
"She's doing fine. I explained to her that her father is with Jesus," Chanel Pedersen said. "We're pretty much coping."
In the film, Moore revisits his hometown of Flint, Michigan, whose economic distress after General Motors plant closings was the subject of his first documentary, "Roger & Me."
Moore talks with resident Lila Lipscomb during her daily routine, hanging an American flag in front of her house. He returns later as Lipscomb heart-wrenchingly reads the final letter from her son, Michael Pedersen, killed in action in Iraq.
As her patriotism turns to bitterness against the federal government, Lipscomb journeys to Washington, D.C. Near the end of "Fahrenheit 9/11," Lipscomb stares at the White House and says, "I finally have a place to put all my pain and anger."
For all his Bush criticism, Moore said he would he would like to visit the White House himself.
"I would love to have a White House screening of this film," Moore said. "I would attend it. I would behave myself."