SGT DANIEL J. PATRON
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Daniel J. Patron, 26, was killed trying to defuse a roadside bomb at 11:19 a.m. Saturday in Sangin, Afghanistan, in Helmand province.
His parents described him as “selfless, brave and gutsy.”
“Funny, handsome, very, very well liked,” said mother Kathy Patron, her voice quivering. “He was a fine man. He had a beautiful smile. … Everyone who knew him liked him. He was just such a nice kid. He was a good kid, a good man. He is my hero.”
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PERRY TWP. —
As the sun dims, Katie Rowbotham gazes upon the collection of flowers and handwritten notes addressed to her cousin that accumulate at the Perry Veterans Memorial.
“He’s our hero,” she says. “A lot of us take jobs where we hope to give back in some way. A lot of us are teachers in our family. A lot of us are in the medical field. But there’s no greater hero than Danny.”
She gasps. Eyes fill with tears. Her voice shakes.
“He did the ultimate,” she says. “It’s amazing. And he’s such a young man.”
Mourners congregated at the Perry Veterans Memorial over the last two days to reflect, to weep, to pay tribute. They sought solace amid the tragedy that claimed their friend, Sgt. Daniel J. Patron, 26. Devoid of answers, they weighed on memories of Patron to ease the heart wrenching.
Patron was killed Saturday in Sangin, Afghanistan, trying to defuse a roadside bomb. After tours of duty in Iraq in 2005 and 2009, Patron voluntarily extended his service earlier this year, extending his mission in Afghanistan by four more months. He left in April and was due home in November.
In a flag-draped casket, Patron’s body returned home Sunday night under the floodlights of Dover Air Force Base, where his family journeyed so they could be with their son and brother.
Patron was assigned to 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, in Camp Lejeune, N.C., according to the Department of Defense. Patron enlisted after graduating from Perry High in 2003. The son of Kathy and Frank Patron, he was inspired to serve following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
He spent the first four years in the military band, which he brought back home with him in 2004 to perform in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Parade. But he “wanted something more challenging,” so he trained for the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company in Florida, according to his mother.
In 2007, his older brother, Matthew, wrote and illustrated a book in his honor. It is titled, “I Love You, Dan, Good Night.”
The first page reads “For Dan, remembering the day your boots touched down, and knowing deep within that love can overcome any distance.”
The story tells how Matthew cared for his younger brother as a kid, carrying him to bed when he would fall asleep in front of the television, and charts their way through childhood to the day Dan chose to enter the military.
Patron was funny and unpredictable. He was brilliant and talented. He was in the choir and a member of the speech and debate team. He played drums in the marching band, and also knew how to play the bagpipes. Occasionally, he would wear a kilt.
Perry English teacher Cindy Whetstone, who created the veterans memorial in 2006, had Patron in class and is a friend of the family.
“Just funny,” she said of her former student. “You never knew what he was going to say. He was just off the wall. If it was something daring, he was willing to do it.”
He was president the school’s theater group, The Perry Players, a member of the National Thespian Society, and played the lead role in the production of “The Pajama Game” his senior year. He even won the school’s theater hall-of-fame award.
Perry theater director Louie Mattachione called him a “gem.”
“These are tough times for Perry,” Mattachione said. “Dan was the biggest little guy I know. He had a real unique, funny way about him. You had to love it. You wanted to hug him every time you saw him. He was stubborn, but stubborn in a good way. I’m honored to have had a role in nurturing him.”
John Marino, a classmate, played alongside Patron in their senior-year theater production. Marino said his friend “shined” in the performance. He called Patron a “true American hero.”
“He’s one of the greatest people I’ve met on this Earth,” Marino said.
