Pat's Memorial Day in Manawa Wi

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“Some of the bravest men I have seen are people who take on that task of handling those explosives.

So he was a brave man. It takes a lot of guts,” the general said. “God bless him.”

 

Tribute to a fallen hero

By Paul Boring

Jul 30 2007

 

        Chief Petty Officer Patrick Wade accomplished more in 38 years than most people are able to muster in a much lengthier lifetime. What made the sailor different was his attitude. Although goal-oriented, his accomplishments included his friends and family. And his Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11 team, all of whom he would put in the former category.

 

Wade died July 17 in Iraq when an improvised explosive device detonated against his EOD team’s JERRV. Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffrey L. Chaney, 35, of Omaha, Neb. was also killed and Petty Officer 1st Class David Hauxhurst was injured.

An emotionally-charged memorial service for Wade was held Wednesday at First Reformed Church in Oak Harbor. From family, to close friends, to scores of peers, to elected officials, to Pearl Harbor survivors, the service was a stirring tribute to an American hero who paid the ultimate price doing a job he loved. "This is one of the first times a funeral has come home to Oak Harbor," said Kim Martin, Whidbey Island Naval Air Station public affairs officer. "It was important for his wife to bring his body back here so she could share the experience with the area."

 

Senior Chief Explosive Ordnance Technician Bob Zimmerman said Wade was one of the fortunate ones. He was given a calling, a duty that was crucial for his personal and professional fulfillment. And that calling extended beyond the EOD community in which he thrived. "If you're called to do something, you have to do it," Zimmerman said at the funeral. "Patrick was called to be an EOD tech, he was called to be a friend, and he was called to be a family man." Wade's slow, deliberate nature permeated every aspect of his life. He made sure everything was in order before marrying his wife Keri. The couple waited to have children until they were sure they were ready. "He'd achieved complete happiness. He figured it out," said Zimmerman, the escort for the family when they were in town. "He was fulfilling his purpose. His legacy to us is his life. He was a template we can apply to our own lives."

 

Cmdr. Martin Beck, former EODMU-11 commanding officer, said Wade was dedicated to setting a standard and raising the bar to an unprecedented level. "That's a rare gift that few of us possess, to motivate people to do what they wouldn't normally do...," he said. "That was Chief Wade's character. His commitment to the EOD community was unmatched."

The skilled explosive expert's leadership and steadfastness allowed him to lead more than 100 counter IED missions. Beck's last words to Wade were, "Chief, bring 'em home."

"He looked me square in the eye and said, 'I will, sir.' He is a hero," he said. "He selflessly placed his nation above his own life ... We shall live our lives in his memory." Wade was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal.

 

Care celebrant Linda Haddon described a young Patrick Wade as mischievous. Rear Adm. Michael Tillotson, deputy commander of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command in Norfolk, Va., said the mischievous side survived as the chief advanced in age. "He was an EOD tech, he was a warrior, and he was a hero," Tillotson said. "Pat Wade gave his life saving the lives of others."

"I was proud to call Patrick my son-in-law," said Bob York, Wade's father-in-law.

Wade had many monikers, but York had a personal favorite.

"The thing I loved to hear him called most was 'daddy,'" he said.

Since the tragedy, Wade's wife Keri has felt as if her heart will break into a million pieces. But each time she has been on a precipice, someone has brought her back. Through the death she has seen life through entirely different eyes.

 

"I've had the best week I've ever had with my children," she said. Both Wades were strong, independent people. As a couple, they were much more. "Together we were indestructible," Keri said. Struggling to string together the perfect words to punctuate a life well-lived, Keri added an appropriate dose of levity and irreverence to the funeral.

"He went out with a bang," she said. "I think he's probably satisfied." Military honors and the touching of Wade's casket and the laying of roses followed the ceremony. The Patriot Guard Riders held vigil throughout the ceremony holding flags and paying tribute. First Reformed Church was a scene of reverence and patriotism, a melding of the military and civilian communities. It was a fitting tribute to a true hero.

Wade's ashes will be flown back to Wisconsin and scattered over Bear Lake, where the taciturn and unflappable sailor spent countless days during his tragically truncated life.

 

 

Navy explosives technician from Manawa killed in Iraq

         MANAWA, Wis. — A 38-year-old Navy explosives technician who recently arrived in Iraq was killed by a roadside bomb, his mother said July 18. It’s her second son to die while serving his country, the family said.

 

Chief Petty Officer Patrick Wade, who joined the Navy after graduating from high school here in 1987, died July 17 while on a mission in Samarra, north of Baghdad, his mother, Shirley Wade said.

“They were just on a convoy. They were going to take care of some explosives and their vehicle was hit by a very deep charge,” she said, her voice choked with emotion. “He was a very outgoing young man. He enjoyed the service and his family. I just really can’t talk about that.” Wade was deployed to Iraq about two months ago, the 70-year-old mother said.

 

The Department of Defense announced July 18 the deaths of Wade and Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffrey L. Chaney, 35, of Omaha, Neb., both assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11, out of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash. The two died in combat operations in Iraq’s Salah Ad Din province, the Pentagon said.

Wade was married with two daughters, ages 3 and 1, and the family lived in Oak Harbor, Wash., which is north of Seattle, his older brother, Gary, said.

“He loved what he did. He was a good friend, a good brother, a good uncle. He was a good man,” the brother said. “He believed in what he was doing and he believed that he was accomplishing his mission.” His brother got married in 2003 to a woman from California who also had served in the Navy, the brother said.

 

According to Gary, his younger brother’s vehicle survived an initial bomb blast July 17, and he was killed when his crew discovered other bombs in a culvert under the highway. Steps were being taken to detonate them safely when they exploded. “The blast was just that big,” he said. The family was told the explosion left a crater 40 feet long and 6 feet deep, the brother said.

Pat Wade is the second son in the family to die in military service. An older brother, 37-year-old Bob, was killed in a helicopter accident in 1993 in Japan while serving in the Air Force, Gary Wade said. Ever since high school, Pat wanted to follow his brothers into military service, said Gary, 48, who served four years in the Marines.

 

He wanted to become a Navy SEAL. “He just liked the adventure and the challenge,” the brother said. He didn’t make it but figured the next best thing was the explosives disposal team. “He was an average, normal kind of guy except for the fact that he blew [expletive] up,” the brother said. “He was looking forward to the next promotion to master chief in another three years.”

Pat Wade is the 76th soldier, Marine or sailor from Wisconsin killed in Iraq or associated with duties in Iraq. As of July 17, more than 3,600 members of the U.S. military had died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. Deb Watry, superintendent of Little Wolf High School in Manawa where Wade graduated, said Wade has a nephew still attending the school.

 

News of Wade’s death saddened residents in the central Wisconsin community of about 1,350 people, Watry said. “It is our first loss in a very small community. It impacts a lot of people.”

A high-ranking Army general touring Fort McCoy in western Wisconsin on Wednesday offered condolences to Wade’s family.

“That is the price of a war. When you decide to go to war, people have to understand that is going to happen, and I am so sorry for that family,” said Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, a three-star general in charge of training National Guard and Reserve soldiers for deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wade’s duty as an explosives technician is one of the most dangerous jobs in the military, said Honore, who visited his troops in Iraq two weeks ago.

 

“Some of the bravest men I have seen are people who take on that task of handling those explosives. So he was a brave man. It takes a lot of guts,” the general said. “God bless him.”