Mourners gather to honor fallen soldier
By Amy Lavalley Post-Tribune correspondent February 12, 2012 11:10PM
Mr. Robert Patterson makes remarks on behalf of the Patterson family during a memorial service on Sunday, February 12, 2012, in the Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University. His son, SPC Christopher Patterson died last month while serving in Afghanistan. | Michael Gard~For Sun-Times Media
Memorials
Memorial contributions may be directed to Valparaiso University, attn: SPC Christopher A. Patterson Scholarship Fund, Valparaiso University, Office of Advancement, 1100 Campus Drive South, Valparaiso, IN 46383, or West Aurora High School Music Department, attn: Christopher Patterson Memorial Fund, 1201 W. New York St., Aurora, IL 60406.
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Updated: March 14, 2012 8:07AM
VALPRAISO — Spc. Christopher A. Patterson’s essay was well regarded by his professor and on display for all to see Sunday in the Chapel of the Resurrection on the Valparaiso University campus.
Patterson, of Aurora, Ill., submitted the paper on April 26, shortly after learning of his fall deployment to Afghanistan with the Valparaiso-based 713th Engineering Company of the Indiana National Guard. It was titled “What I Carried,” and discussed his relationship with fellow members of Phi Mu Alpha, a music fraternity.
“I know that when I return from my deployment in the spring semester of 2013 I will be welcomed back as if I had never left, and it will help to make the transition that much easier.”
It was a return Patterson never got. On Jan. 6, Patterson, 20, and three other members of his unit were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.
The other soldiers killed were Spc. Brian J. Leonhardt, 21, of Merrillville; Spc. Robert J. Tauteris Jr., 44, of Hamlet; and Staff Sgt. Jonathan M. Metzger, 32, of Indianapolis. A fifth soldier, Pvt. Douglas Rachowicz, 29, of Hammond is recovering from serious injuries he suffered in the blast.
More than 300 mourners, many clad in red in a tribute to Patterson’s red hair, gathered in the chapel for a music-filled celebration of Patterson’s life.
Family and friends from his campus activities, including the VU Army ROTC, the University Chorale, a cappella student group VuVox, and Phi Mu Alpha, talked about Patterson’s faith, his love of and talent for music, and his commitment to serving his country.
“We had an angel come into our lives,” Robert Patterson, Patterson’s father, said. “Little did we know where it would lead us, or where his faith would lead him.”
Patterson’s faith was strong from a young age, his father said, and continued as he grew up. In high school, he declined to take part in the musical “Rent” because it went against his beliefs.
In the wake of his son’s death, the elder Patterson said several people reached out to his family to let them know that Patterson’s deeds touched them in some way. That included a couple whose son usually drove the truck that hit the roadside bomb; Patterson had told him he wasn’t driving that day.
“Here I am, 53 years old, and I’m humbled by the death of my son at age 20,” his father said, overcome with grief. “Everyone knows how many lives he’s saved and touched.”
Patterson led a life of leadership and service during the two years he spent at VU majoring in music education, said university president Mark Heckler, noting Patterson’s beautiful tenor voice.
Like many VU students, Patterson had a calling, and for him, it was the National Guard, Heckler said, adding Patterson came from a military family and took leave freshman year for basic training.
He returned stronger both physically and in his potential for leadership. Patters finished first in a ROTC run, then ran back to cross the finish line with those in the back of the pack, though the move pushed him to physical illness.
For more than a half-century, people have gathered in the chapel for memorial services, Heckler said, and now Patterson is in the group of those memorialized.
“It’s his soaring tenor that still cuts through this air, singing, ‘Hallelujah!’” Heckler said. “And now he runs beside us, teaching us about finding our own faith, our own calling.”
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