Patrick was the middle child with two brothers and two sisters and proudly held the title of 'favorite uncle' of his many nephews and nieces. A champion high school athlete, he also achieved a full academic scholarship and attended Tulane University and commissioned at the Navy Reserve Officer Training Command as an ensign on his way to achieving his Wings of Gold at NAS Corpus Christi. From there he joined the Readiness Air Group at Naval Station Norfolk, VA.
Patrick’s last duty station was at NAS Meridian MS arriving there from the fleet after his tour with squadron VAW-126 aboard the USS Harry Truman where he flew the E2-C Hawkeye in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The fleet is where Patrick became “Tank.” Tank was also a Wing Qualified Landing Signals Officer. Tank was an accomplished Tailhooker.
Assigned to training squadron VT-7 at NAS Meridian Tank, a senior instructor pilot and LT JG Wallace Burch, died in a Class A Aviation Mishap. They crashed while flying a T-45 Goshawk on a low-level training mission in the hills of the Cherokee National Forest, near Tellico Plains Tennessee on Sunday, October 1st, 2017.
