Byron Marine ‘gave everything he had’

[thedrifter]

Placing in for rb1651

Byron Marine ‘gave everything he had’
The city plans to lower its flags to half-staff this month in honor of Andrew Patten.
By DUSTIN J. SEIBERT, Rockford Register Star

BYRON — Eddie Engelert recalled one of the last conversations he had with his good friend Andrew Patten before the Marine shipped off to Iraq in July.

“His words were that he was going over there to accomplish the mission, and he wasn’t going to come home until its done,” he said. “I didn’t want him to go, but he went to do his duty, and freedom isn’t free.”

The 19-year-old lance corporal from Byron was among 10 members of the 2nd Marine Division killed Thursday by a roadside bomb in Fallujah. It was the worst attack on U.S. troops in the war since 14 Marines were killed in a similar incident in August.

The attack, which also killed Lance Cpl. Adam W. Kaiser, 19, of Naperville, brought the number of confirmed U.S. deaths in Iraq to 2,127.

Engelert, 20, of Chana met Patten in sixth grade through Maywood Evangelical Free Church in Byron. They hit it off because they were “high-energy kids” who would go fishing, rock-climbing and ride all-terrain vehicles together.

The Northern Illinois University student found out the bad news Friday from his parents.

“I was kind of in shock. I couldn’t believe it for the first hour or so,” he said. “It still doesn’t make sense to me, but we have to trust God and that’s the only thing we can do.”

Jason Engelert, 17, said he became close to Patten through his big brother.

“He knew how to entertain you, and he was fun to be around and always had something to say,” he said.

Larry Seagren, administrative pastor at Maywood Evangelical, served as Patten’s youth pastor when he was in elementary school. He said the church will display his picture and have a moment of silence in his honor during today’s service.

“It’s kind of shock and disbelief at the same time. We were very close throughout the years,” he said.

“He was a dynamic kid who gave everything he had to everything he did. He had a very strong faith in God, and that’s what gave him strength.”

Mayor R. Scot Nason proclaimed that all flags in the city will be flown at half-staff for the remainder of the month.

“Our country is more for Lance Cpl. Patten’s service, and the community of Byron is lessened by his loss,” Nason said in a press release. “We mourn with his family, and will remain eternally grateful for his service.”

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, who works closely with veterans and military personnel in Illinois, said his staff “will help the family with whatever they need. It’s obviously a traumatic time. Sometimes there are questions and issues that maybe a family might have that they need to tend to, and we try to help in any way possible.”

Patten will be buried at Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery; services, which will be at Maywood, have not been scheduled.

Register Star Springfield Bureau chief Aaron Chambers contributed to this story.

Contact: dseibert@rockford.gannett.com; 815-987-1354

Ellie

[rb1651]

Byron Marine a man of faith
Andrew Patten was one of 10 to die Thursday in a roadside-bombing attack in Iraq.
by MIKE WIESER, Rockford Register Star

ROCKFORD -- His fellow Fox Company Marines called Andrew Patten "the Rev."

The nickname is a testament to how seriously the 19-year-old Byron High School graduate took his faith.

Patten was killed Thursday in Fallujah, Iraq, alongside nine others when a roadside bomb -- the military calls them IEDs, or improved explosive devices--exploded in the midst of their foot patrol. It was the second-worst attack on U.S. troops since the Iraq war began.

Sunday afternoon, two days after Andrew's father, Alan, got a 3:30 a.m. visitor at the door informing him of his son's death, Andrew's parents talked about their son's faith to local news media at a home in Rockford.

Sunday night, members of Andrew's Rockford church, Maywood Evangelical Free Church, gathers for the ministry hour where special prayers were given for a Marine that many had known since he was a boy.

"Tonight we recognize that his family, as well as his church family, have suffered a tremendous loss," Maywood Associate Pastor Dave Currie prayed in front of about 50 worshippers who attended the sermon.

"The Second Death cannot touch Andy. We know that Andy lives."

This church is where services for Andrew will be held, but a date has not been scheduled. For now, the church has erected a small memorial to him -- a poster-sized picture of him in his dress blues accompanied by the Bible passage, John 15:13.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

At home, Andrew's parents, Allen Patten and Gayle Naschansky, sat together on a couch next to a Christmas tree topped with a dove and talked a bit about their son.

Andrew had chosen to go into the Marines after high school because he was unsure of how he wanted to spend the rest of his life. Alan said he encouraged his son to go into a branch like the Navy or the Air Force so he could learn to work on machines.

"He told me, 'I want be be a Marine, Pop,' and that was that," Alan said on Sunday. Andrew was expected to serve a seven-month tour overseas. He left on July 4th in this year and was expected back at the end of December or in early January. His parents hope he will be buried in Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

"He was extremely involved in the church and wasn't afraid to share his faith," Naschansky said of her son. "The nickname they gave him was "the Rev.," and I could see how they could call him that, how he'd talk to them about his faith."

It was through church that Andrew met most of his close friends, like Eddie and Josh Engelert and Matt Nyberg. The three boys, and others, were with Alan and Naschansky Sunday.

His friends talked about Andrew's outgoing personality, how he once drove his truck through a five-foot snowbank in the church parking lot and how they planned on visiting Andrew at the base 29 Palms California where he was stationed stateside.

"It looks like we'll be going to Washington, D.C. for the burial instead," Eddie, 20, said. "it's just the fact that we're all Christians, I don't know how I would be doing if we weren't all Christians and that he's in Heaven."

While church and family were a big part of his life, there were other parts as well.

Alan said his son was an outstanding athlete who played football and wrestled in high school. He also had an ear for music, his latest passion was the guitar, but he played piano, viola, and the trumpet.

"I had to draw the line at the saxaphone," Alan said, laughing a bit at the memory. "He had an ear for music, he was a natural."

In a news release sent Sunday, Byron School District Superintendent Marge Fostiak said Andrew's teachers remembered him as a hardworking student who showed leadership. "We are proud to claim such a fine young man and true American hero as a graduate for our district," Fostiak said.

Naschansky recalled getting satellite phone calls from her son. At the front lines, they didn't have ready access to the Internet and such, and the whole unit had to share one satellite phone. She supplemented her conversations with Andrew by logging onto a Web site www.marineparents.com and writing with other parents who had children with Andrew. She said her involvment with the group has helped her immensely, particularly since Friday.

"I've heard from some other people who were in the squad, but survived," Naschansky daid. "They told me what happened, it's been extremely helpful and I'm so grateful for them."

Andrew is survived by his parents, his sister, Allison, and grandparents, Richard and Dorothea Seaman.

Contact: mwiser@rrstar.com, 815-987-1337

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Ellie, thanks for the assist on the first article. Much appreciated.

Ron