Tom Cruise Speaks Out About Jett Travolta's Death

By Eunice Oh

01/08/2009 at 05:00 PM EST

Tom Cruise stopped by the set of The View Thursday to promo his new movie Valkyrie, but the star, a longtime friend of John Travolta and Kelly Preston, turned visibly emotional when the subject turned to the tragic death of the couple's 16-year-old son Jett.

"I remember Jett when he was born," Cruise, 46, says on The View, scheduled to air on Friday. "I saw him when he was just a few months old and John just adored him, and both of his children, and Kelly."

Jett died on Jan. 2 after suffering a seizure while vacationing with his family in the Bahamas. A private memorial service in Ocala, Fla. was scheduled for Thursday.

"I just don't have the words for it," says Cruise. "It's just horrific. Here you have a man, both of them doting parents, they're wonderful people and…"

As for speculation that the Travoltas did not seek medical help for Jett, who had a history of seizures, because of their Scientology beliefs, Cruise, also a Scientologist, says the religion does not discourage medical attention.

"That's just not true," he says. "They say, 'Get your physical, get your medication, get your physical illnesses handled.'"

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