Bittersweet joy: 149th Infantry Regiment soldier welcomes his first son into the world while deployed

Photo By Staff Sgt. Paul Glover | Sgt. Jonathan Patterson, a medic with 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, 77th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, and a native of Barbourville, Ky., looks through photos sent from home by his wife of seven years while deployed to Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Patterson recently had his third child and first son on Aug.18, 2011. (Photo by: U.S. Army Sgt. Paul Evans)  

JOINT BASE BALAD, IRAQ

09.04.2011

Courtesy Story

310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command

By: Sgt. Paul Evans

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq — For most of us, Aug. 18, 2011 was just another day like the rest of them. But for Sgt. Jonathan Patterson, a medic with 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, 77th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command and a native of Barbourville, Ky., it was a joyously bittersweet day he will likely never forget. It just isn’t quite the same when your first son introduced into the world during a deployment.

Patterson, like many soldiers that came before him and serve alongside with him and those yet to come, missed the birth of his son while serving his country. It is yet another example of the sacrifice soldiers often make in the name of others.

As for Mindy, his wife of seven years, Patterson said, “She’s always been a fighter, so she’s doing pretty good. I think she’s got it harder than me at home raising three kids.”

Patterson has been helping keep soldiers healthy since joining the Army as a medic in December of 2000. He is now a health care specialist serving in Iraq. Patterson also deployed to Belgium in 2001 with B Company, 149th Infantry, and Iraq in 2005-2006 with the 110th Infantry Battalion from Pennsylvania.

With nearly 10 years of experience in the medical field, Patterson certainly contributes a lot to keeping the 149th’s soldiers healthy. Fellow medical expert Sgt. Jonathan Powers notes, “Patterson is a good medic who is knowledgeable, dependable and very self-motivated to get the mission accomplished unsupervised.”

In his civilian life, Patterson spends time nurturing computers back to health as an information system specialist, or as he puts it, a “computer guru” working for the 2nd Battalion, 75th Recruiting & Retention Regiment.

As for what makes the Army so special to Patterson, he said, “the teamwork and taking care of each other make all the difference in the world. That’s probably what I’ll miss most whenever I leave.” And for Patterson, taking care of people is a way of life.

Back home, Patterson has a six-year-old daughter and another daughter turning two Sept. 9. He makes sure to add that she was born on 9/9/09.

Asked how he feels about missing his first son’s birth, Patterson answers, “I’m excited it’s a boy, but it kind of sucks I can’t be there.”

• Date Taken: 09.04.2011
• Date Posted: 09.04.2011 04:09
• Story ID: 76418
• Location: JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ