Published: Thursday, July 26, 2007
Fallen Whidbey sailor honored
Bomb disposal expert praised as man who gave his life saving lives
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Kevin Nortz / The Herald
Chief Petty Officer Patrick Wade’s mother, Shirley Wade (left), holds the flag that draped the fallen sailor’s coffin as Patrick Wade’s wife, Keri Wade, offers support during funeral services Wednesday in Oak Harbor.
OAK HARBOR - Patrick Lee Wade was a lot of things to a lot of people, but a good number of them remember him as a hero.
That's how the Navy chief petty officer, a man whose job defined the word "dangerous," was remembered Wednesday.
Scores of Navy personnel, many of them from Wade's Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11; some three dozen family members; and many Oak Harbor residents gathered at the First Reformed Church to say goodbye to him.
He was one of two sailors from the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station unit who were killed July 17 in Iraq. Three others from the unit perished in Iraq in April.
The armored vehicle in which Wade, 38, and Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffrey Chaney, 35, were riding was ambushed on a road near the town of Samarra in Salah Ad Din province north of Baghdad.
Somebody stuffed a culvert full of explosives and set it off as the sailors' vehicle passed over it. The explosion left a huge crater in the road and killed Wade and Chaney immediately.
A third sailor, who was riding in the back of the vehicle, was severely injured.
Wade got an emotional sendoff filled with accolades about his accomplishments and the man he was.
"He was a sailor who engaged life. He was a warrior," said Rear Adm. Michael Tillotson, deputy commander of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command in Norfolk, Va. "He was an (explosive ordnance) technician. He was a hero."
Tillotson was Wade's commanding officer in Spain for a while in the 1990s. He knows that the ordnance destruction experts' jobs are dangerous, but it's a job that has saved countless lives in Iraq.
"Pat Wade gave his life saving lives," Tillotson said. "That's a phenomenal sacrifice. He was doing what he wanted."
Wade enlisted in the Navy after high school in Wisconsin, hoping to become a Navy SEAL. When that didn't work out, he chose another demanding job, explosives demolition.
He was a mischievous at times as a child, a practical joker as an adult. He was meticulous at his job, was in excellent shape and was an avid outdoorsman.
"He set a high standard and inspired others to excel," said Cmdr. Martin Beck, who was Wade's commanding officer at Whidbey. "This was Chief Wade's character."
Wade was a friend and a family man, Senior Chief Petty Officer Bob Zimmerman said. Wade beamed about his wife and his two young daughters.
He married a former sailor. He and his wife, Keri Wade, had two children - Noelle, 3, and Esme, 10 months - who will be raised in the Oak Harbor area.
"This is the place they picked to raise their kids," said her father, Bob York. He said his daughter is thankful that her husband didn't suffer a long time or experience great fear before he died.
"Patrick wasn't the kind of man who would pat himself on the back a lot," Keri Wade said of the praise voiced during the memorial service. "But he really deserves it."
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
That's how the Navy chief petty officer, a man whose job defined the word "dangerous," was remembered Wednesday.
Scores of Navy personnel, many of them from Wade's Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11; some three dozen family members; and many Oak Harbor residents gathered at the First Reformed Church to say goodbye to him.
He was one of two sailors from the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station unit who were killed July 17 in Iraq. Three others from the unit perished in Iraq in April.
The armored vehicle in which Wade, 38, and Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffrey Chaney, 35, were riding was ambushed on a road near the town of Samarra in Salah Ad Din province north of Baghdad.
Somebody stuffed a culvert full of explosives and set it off as the sailors' vehicle passed over it. The explosion left a huge crater in the road and killed Wade and Chaney immediately.
A third sailor, who was riding in the back of the vehicle, was severely injured.
Wade got an emotional sendoff filled with accolades about his accomplishments and the man he was.
"He was a sailor who engaged life. He was a warrior," said Rear Adm. Michael Tillotson, deputy commander of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command in Norfolk, Va. "He was an (explosive ordnance) technician. He was a hero."
Tillotson was Wade's commanding officer in Spain for a while in the 1990s. He knows that the ordnance destruction experts' jobs are dangerous, but it's a job that has saved countless lives in Iraq.
"Pat Wade gave his life saving lives," Tillotson said. "That's a phenomenal sacrifice. He was doing what he wanted."
Wade enlisted in the Navy after high school in Wisconsin, hoping to become a Navy SEAL. When that didn't work out, he chose another demanding job, explosives demolition.
He was a mischievous at times as a child, a practical joker as an adult. He was meticulous at his job, was in excellent shape and was an avid outdoorsman.
"He set a high standard and inspired others to excel," said Cmdr. Martin Beck, who was Wade's commanding officer at Whidbey. "This was Chief Wade's character."
Wade was a friend and a family man, Senior Chief Petty Officer Bob Zimmerman said. Wade beamed about his wife and his two young daughters.
He married a former sailor. He and his wife, Keri Wade, had two children - Noelle, 3, and Esme, 10 months - who will be raised in the Oak Harbor area.
"This is the place they picked to raise their kids," said her father, Bob York. He said his daughter is thankful that her husband didn't suffer a long time or experience great fear before he died.
"Patrick wasn't the kind of man who would pat himself on the back a lot," Keri Wade said of the praise voiced during the memorial service. "But he really deserves it."
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
Story tags »
• Human Interest • Oak Harbor • Iraq War • Navy • Whidbey Island Naval Air StationRelated
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