Posted by Keith Garner on June 1, 2011:

Because he was a "flanker" and I was a "runt", I did not get to know Pat very well as a cadet; however, that changed quickly AFTER graduation. We attended Ranger, Airborne, and Artillery Officer Basic Course together and toward the end of the Basic Course, he, John Denton, Nick Rowe, Bill Bailey, Otto Sutton, Fred Rice, Jim Pearl, Don Prosser, Bert Spivy, Dan Orr, Austin Vencill, Jack Hixon, J.J. York, Jim Hopper, Tom Tamplin, and I (and some others) volunteered for Special Forces. When we arrived at Special Forces Heaquarters at Ft. Bragg, we discovered Artillery Career Branch had played a trick on us and Special Forces -- Special Forces wanted experienced First Lieutenants, not inexperienced Second Lieutanants, so the cadre tried to run us off. We were stubborn enough they couldn't. In an effort to do SOMETHING with us, they sent a bunch of us to the Army Language School at Monterey, California, including Pat, John Denton, Fred Rice, Chuck Luton, Bill Bailey, Dan Orr, Nick Rowe, and me (and some others). While there, Pat met and married Michael Ann. After finishing the language school and our return to Ft. Bragg, we completed the Special Forces Officers School. Pat and John Denton were so enamored with the medic training, they resigned and attended medical school. Otto Sutton was also enamored with that training, but he persuaded the Army to send him to medical school. Pat was an outstanding person and one of the best all around men I have known. I was crushed to learn of his death and still miss him. Keith Garner A-2

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