|
Obituaries
Jasper County,
South Carolina Genealogy Trails
Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC)
- May 3, 2004
Deceased Name: Esau
Patterson Jr. - Ridgeland soldier dies in Iraq
combat
Suicide car bomber killed 8 last week
Army Staff Sgt. Esau Patterson Jr., a 25-year-old
Ridgeland native, was among the eight soldiers killed by a suicide
bomber in Iraq last week.
His family, which is waiting for his body
to arrive back home for the funeral, was wondering Sunday whether
the war is worth it.
"Why are we still over there?" Tarsha
Myers, his oldest sister, said when reached Sunday evening at her
parents' home in Ridgeland, about 30 miles north of Savannah. "To
me, it seems like another Vietnam."
She said her parents are struggling to
cope with losing their only son.
At least 753 American service members,
including 10 South Carolinians, have died since the war started 13
months ago. Last month was the deadliest, with 138 American
casualties.
Patterson died Thursday along with seven
other members of the Army's 1st Armored Division when a car bomb
exploded south of Baghdad. Four others were wounded in the
explosion.
Myers said her brother went to Iraq
because he felt it was his duty to defend his country. He had been
in the Army eight years and was in Iraq for more than a year. He was
supposed to come home a few weeks ago, but his deployment was
extended for six months.
Myers is the oldest of Patterson's six
sisters. Patterson was married and had a daughter, 2, and stepson,
4, who live in Texas.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by
Bostick Funeral Home of
Ridgeland. |