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MERCER HOWELL PATTERSON was born in
Gulfport, MS, and enjoyed a childhood richly
abundant with outdoor activities–hunting, fishing, swimming at the beach–and with
music. His parents were accomplished musicians
who encouraged “Pat” with instruction
on a variety of instruments. He sustained that
interest throughout his life, playing the bass
fiddle in dance bands and the baritone horn
in high school and college marching bands
(notably in LSU’s famous halftime ensemble).
He also performed as a skilled amateur cellist.
Pat joined the Naval Reserve while in college,
and when low finances obliged him to leave
school temporarily, he enlisted on active duty
with the Air Force. Finding military life to his
liking and judging it to have good potential
for a worthy profession, he took the competitive
entrance exam for West Point, won an appointment,
and was assigned to the USMA
Preparatory School.
During Pat’s Yearling summer at West
Point, he proposed to Peggy Shea, a hometown
girl he had met while on leave. She visited
Pat frequently at West Point and on cadet
trips and weekends. In fact, she was a popular
auxiliary member of the so-called “Kappa Dos
Fraternity,” the unofficial society of Pat’s classmates
in Company K-2. Being older and more
mature than most of his classmates, though as
fun-loving as any, Pat was a steadying influence
on Kappa Dos revels. Pat and Peggy were
the very first couple in the Class of ’54 married
in the Cadet Chapel after graduation.
Following Airborne and Ranger training,
Pat served with the 9th Infantry Division at Ft.
Lewis, WA, and in Alaska; as a staff officer and
company commander at Ft. Benning, GA;
with the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
at Ft. Bragg, NC; and again as a company
commander in Korea. I also was stationed in
Korea that year and enjoyed a week’s TDY on
Pat’s compound, where I was impressed by
how much his officers and soldiers respected
and liked him. Returning stateside, Pat spent
three years training cadets at the Citadel in
Charleston, SC.
Next, Pat went to Viet Nam, serving as a
battalion executive officer in the 4th Infantry
Division. Pat was given command of a task
force holding a vital position in the jungle
highlands west of Dak To. When the task
force’s position came under ground assault
and bombardment, he rallied his troops to resist
the attack and then led a successful counterattack,
bringing supporting artillery fires
dangerously close to his own lines. Seriously
wounded during the operation, he was subsequently
awarded the Silver Star and the Purple
Heart. After recovering from his wounds and
attending the Command and General Staff
College, he served in the Pentagon as a staff
officer for the assistant chief of staff for force
development; and then as a research and development
director with the Army Materiel
Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, an
outdoor activity he most enjoyed.
Pat’s final tour of duty was with Southern
North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters
in Naples, Italy. Here, in what Peggy
remembers as their “dream assignment,” they
lived in a hillside villa with a gorgeous view
of the Mediterranean that included the fabled
Isle of Capri and celebrated their 26th
wedding anniversary on a memorable cruise.
Peggy and Pat found great professional and
personal satisfaction there. They worked and
socialized with officers and families of other
nationalities, and when they left, his boss described
Pat as “determined and unflappable”
and Peggy as “a valued member of the international
community.”
After completing their memorable tour
in Italy, with Pat approaching 30 years of service,
they headed for a final assignment at
Ft. Gordon, GA. Their three children now
grown and on their individual life paths, Pat
and Peggy planned to return to the beautiful
Gulf Coast for retirement. In the Rome airport,
just prior to boarding their plane for the
States, Pat was stricken with a fatal heart attack.
Peggy eventually took him home, and he
rests there today among his forebears. Beside
his grave, there is a place for the woman who
sustained him throughout his career of service
to our country.
Peggy has remarried, as Pat, in his characteristically unselfish and loving way would
have wanted her to do, and lives with her
husband, a physician, in Memphis, TN. She
keeps current with the Class of ’54 and was a
lively participant in our 40th, 45th, and 50th
reunions. Their children have led fulfilling
lives: Teresa in the insurance business, Linda
pursuing her family’s talent in music, and
young Pat with the Justice Department. Peggy
has three grandchildren, who are all doing well
in school.
There can be no greater testimony to this good man’s life than that his widow
and children still today refer to their husband and father as “our hero.”
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