BOULDER CITY, NV, USA U.S. Navy PO2, SEAL DELIVERY VEHICLE TEAM ONE ASABADAD, AFGHANISTAN 06/28/2005
Petty Officer Second Class Eric ‘Shane’ Patton, 22, died June 28, 2005, when the helicopter he was in was shot down in the mountains of Afghanistan. He was part of a team sent to rescue a SEAL team in a heavy firefight. Shane was a member of SEAL Delivery Vehicle TeamOne.
Patton was born November 15, 1982. He lived in Boulder City, Nevada and joined the Navy SEALs in 2000 — fresh out of Boulder City High School. His father, James “JJ” Patton, is a municipal court marshal in Las Vegas and former Navy SEAL, according to a news release from the Nevada governor’s office.
In high school he excelled at baseball – star pitcher and best outfielder. He played the guitar with his band, True Story. He was a surfer and a skateboarder. He gave the ultimate compliment to the President, “He’s a real dude, man, a real dude.”
His nickname was “Cream, Hatch or Snack Attack.”
It’s been said that Shane was good with everything he did or tried. … He cared about his work. He cared about pulling his weight. He cared about his platoon.
Three years ago, Petty Officer 2nd Class Patton enthusiastically took on the rigorous training to become a SEAL, said friends. He was the only one of his three brothers to follow his father. Stationed at Pearl Harbor, Patton shipped out for Afghanistan in April.
Yesterday, Brandon Tretton remembered Patton, his best friend since ninth or 10th grade: “He wanted to be a SEAL, and he wanted to be the best. His father was a SEAL, and he figured if he joined the armed forces, he would go all the way and be the best.”
Patton, of Boulder City, Nev., was one of three Hawaii-based Navy SEALs among 16 troops who were killed during combat operations last Tuesday when their MH-47 helicopter crashed under enemy fire in the area of Asadabad, Afghanistan, in Kunar province. The military said the crash was the deadliest single blow to American forces in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted in 2001