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.


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