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<< Previous   of   Next >> Contributed photo  (click to enlarge) Chief Petty Officer Patrick L. Wade, 38, died Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded under his ordnance detonation team’s vehicle south of Samarra, Iraq.   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Jeffrey L. Chaney • Patrick L. Wade • Explosion kills Whidbey sailor serving in Iraq 11/7/07 • Whidbey-based sailor killed in Iraq 11/6/07   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, July 19, 2007 Two Whidbey sailors killed in Iraq violence They were defusing one bomb when another blew By Jeff Switzer, Krista Kapralos and Justin Arnold, Herald Writers OAK HARBOR - This Navy town is reeling again after learning two more sailors from a local bomb disposal unit have died in Iraq. The men were killed Tuesday, and a third sailor on the team was critically injured, after a bomb exploded under their armored vehicle on a highway in Iraq. The deaths of bomb disposal experts Chief Petty Officer Patrick L. Wade, 38, and Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffrey L. Chaney, 35, come just a few months after Whidbey Island was stunned by the deaths of three other men from the same unit. "It's very difficult for the command and the people in this community to reconcile the loss of these sailors so soon after the loss of three sailors in April," said Kimberly Martin, Whidbey Island Naval Air Station public affairs officer. "On the other hand, these men and women who work in this organization do a dangerous job, and put their lives on the line every day because they feel so strongly this is the right thing to do." Jeff Chaney Jeffrey Chaney is from Omaha, Neb., and was single. Family members could not be reached for comment. Patrick Wade is survived by his wife, Kari, daughters Noel, 3, and Esme, 2 months. They live in Oak Harbor. Other survivors are in Wisconsin, his home state. Patrick Wade's brother, Gary Wade of Royalton, Wis., had to break the news to his mother that her youngest son had died. "She was washing dishes at her job at a nursing home," Gary Wade said. "She just (saw) me standing there and she knew something was wrong. She turned around and said, 'Oh, no, Gary.' She just broke down right away. She knew what happened." Patrick Wade comes from a military family that has now lost two men to combat. His older brother, Bob Wade, died in a helicopter accident in Japan while serving in the Air Force. Patrick Wade was away, serving his country, when Gary Wade sprinkled Bob Wade's ashes on a lake in northern Wisconsin. Roadside bomb Wade and Chaney were among 19 deployed to Iraq in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11, a group that has found itself in a war zone where the front line can be anywhere. The unit is made up of sailors who are highly trained experts at identifying and defusing explosive materials. It's a perilous job. Roadside and car bombs have killed hundreds in the military in Iraq. Their deaths were a sacrifice made while protecting fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, said Capt. Barry Coceano, commander of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group One. "They worked valiantly each and every day providing security to a populace unable to protect and defend itself at this time - a noble and righteous cause," Coceano said. "They are heroes and role models. I ask each of you to keep their families and friends in your thoughts and prayers." Since November, the Whidbey-based bomb disposal unit received 26 Bronze Stars for heroism in combat. Five Bronze Stars were awarded in June to locally based sailors who dismantled as much as 40 tons of explosives. Three sailors from the unit died April 6, marking the first deaths for Whidbey Island base since 1991. They each received Bronze Stars posthumously. On Tuesday, Patrick Wade and Jeffrey Chaney were escorting a battalion of U.S. Army Rangers on a highway south of Samarra, Gary Wade said. A bomb exploded on the roadside near soldiers, and the bomb experts were called to investigate. The team, including Wade and Chaney, saw other bombs that hadn't yet exploded, said Gary Wade, who left the U.S. Marines as a corporal in 1981. They were working to defuse those bombs from inside their armored vehicle - possibly using robotic arms - when a bomb went off beneath them. They died instantly. "They were in the JERRV vehicle," Gary Wade said. "It's the latest armor blast-proof vehicle that the EOD teams have. If they drive over a bomb, it's supposed to deflect the blast. (Patrick) had a lot of confidence in his people and in his equipment." The bomb left a crater that was 12 feet wide, 40 feet long and 6 feet deep, Gary Wade said. The JERRV, a Joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal Rapid Response Vehicle, was severely damaged. Military family Patrick Wade always planned to enlist as soon as he graduated from high school, Gary Wade said. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his older brothers. The boys spent their time canoeing and fishing in Wisconsin's lakes. Patrick Wade joined every sports team he could, including wrestling, football and track and field. Patrick Wade met his wife, Kari, in the military. She worked on surveillance planes before she left the service about eight years ago, Gary Wade said. The couple married in San Diego in 2003 near the base where Patrick Wade was stationed at the time. They later moved to a base in Spain. The brothers and their families met for vacation in Madrid in April. The families toured the city's historic sites together. Gary and Patrick Wade took in a bullfight. Kari Wade was pregnant, and nearing her due date, Gary Wade said. Noel, 3, got to know her aunt and uncle. Kari Wade gave birth to Esme, now 2 months old, just weeks before the family was re-stationed at Oak Harbor. "Patrick barely had time to unpack before he left for Iraq in June," Gary Wade said. Community mourning Word of the sailors' deaths spread through town on Wednesday, re-opening still-fresh sorrow. "I was here when the Navy guys passed on (in April)," said Maria Diamond, owner of Islanders Bar and Grill. "As a community we say a prayer and lower our flags. Everyone knows it's for the good of our country, but it still hurts." Several Navy wives work at the restaurant, and they worry with every news report from the war zone, Diamond said. Wednesday, the news hit home. "It's a sad thing," Diamond said. "It should be sad for everyone, not just the families." The news of the latest casualties was upsetting, said Stephen Sipes, 21. "It's always horrible to hear," he said. Sipes is a Navy reservist with the Seabees and is scheduled to go to Iraq in March. He is a 2004 graduate of Oak Harbor High School. Patrick Wade's body is currently in Germany, Gary Wade said. He expects it to arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware within a few days. There will likely be memorial services held in Oak Harbor and Manawa, Wade's hometown near Appleton, Wis. Oak Harbor Mayor Patty Cohen said the community is again in shock and mourning the loss of locally-based sailors. "This is a very proud military community and it feels very much like an extended family," Cohen said. "When we lose one of our sailors or Marines, it touches the community." Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.

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