Army Staff Sgt. Esau G. Patterson Jr.
Death: Apr 29, 2004
of Ridgeland S.C.; assigned to 4th Battalion 27th Field Artillery Regiment 1st Armored Division Baumholder Germany; one of eight soldiers killed April 29 by a car bomb as his unit was doing a dismounted improvised-explosive device-sweep in Baghdad. Ridgeland soldier remembered fondly Associated Press RIDGELAND S.C. — About 500 people remembered Esau G. Patterson as a brave soldier a smiling son and a role model for young people everywhere. Patterson a 25-year-old Army staff sergeant was killed in Iraq with seven others on April 29. He was eulogized and laid to rest on May 10 his birthday. “Ever since my son was a little boy” Esau Patterson Sr. said in The Carolina Morning News “I’ve enjoyed the smiles that came off his face. Everyday he surprised me. He was respectable to his parents and all parents. He made me proud.” At Patterson’s gravesite state Sen. Clementa Pinckney D-Ridgeland gave a short prayer thanking God “for our dear soldier.” Jasper County School District board member Kathleen Snooks presented the family with a resolution of support. She said Patterson was “a former student of ours who leaves behind a heritage of honor.” People traveled from throughout the country to honor Patterson. His cousin Roger Patterson was down from New York. He says he’s proud to tell people he knows that “my family member was fighting for our country.” Janie Johnson whose husband Angelo was stationed with Patterson in Hawaii remembered Patterson as a “model for young people.” Patterson’s funeral was a full military ceremony with an airborne unit from the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart Ga. carrying the casket folding the U.S. flag and presenting it to the family and performing a 21-gun salute. A choir from Patterson’s high school Jasper County performed during the funeral at Mount Carmel Baptist Center. Patterson is survived by his wife Kisha his daughter Kesauna and his son Kaven.