News

Remembering Brian M. Patton

By Sherry Long slong@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Amy Hynoski Patton welcomed her husband, U.S. Naval Petty Officer 2nd Class Brian M. Patton, home Friday night as his body was carried off of a plane by a military escort.

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U.S. Naval Petty Officer 2nd Class Brian M. Patton’s body arrives Friday night at Dover Air Force Base.

Photos by JIM GAVENUS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

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U.S. Naval Petty Officer 2nd Class Brian M. Patton died Thursday in Kuwait in an automobile crash.

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She said she was glad to have him home, but it was not the way she wanted to welcome him home from his tour of duty in Kuwait.

“It’s kind of a mixed feeling. I’m glad, but I wish he were actually walking off the plane instead of being brought in a transfer case,” Patton said.

She and his two brothers, Robert and Scott, traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del., Friday evening as his remains were flown back to the United States after he died Thursday morning in an automobile crash in Kuwait.

Patton, a military police officer, was stationed in northern Kuwait in June with the Naval Security Force from Rochester, N.Y. were he was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom.

He came home for leave last month and was scheduled to end his tour in late February or early March.

Funeral arrangement dates are still pending because Patton’s remains have not been released to the family by the military yet. That might take up to four days, she said.

Brian Patton was the oldest of three boys. Brian was close to his family and liked to help his brothers, Robert and Scott, any way he could.

“He tried to lead us in the right direction and paths in our careers and future. He was a role model,” Robert said, who followed in his big brother’s footsteps by joining the military.

Robert Patton, a chief warrant officer, serves in the U.S. Army at Fort Drum near Watertown, N.Y. Robert Patton, 36, just returned from his third tour of duty last week after being serving in Afghanistan.

The brothers, who were born 14-months apart, also served overseas during the same time frame.

Robert Patton recalled seeing his brother in August when he traveled to Kuwait for a brief military leave. “It was good. We had lunch. We sat around and talked about what it was like for me over there and what it was like over there for him,” he said.

Robert Patton said his brother was a strong American who loved this country and his family tremendously.

“He was very patriotic. He felt he was doing good stuff for people surrounding him and also his family,” Robert said.