Sgt. Jayon Patterson

Sgt. Jayton Patterson

The Warriors of Heaven, God, Country & Corps add your comments on this link!

17 Jan 05 (AP) - The family of Marine Sergeant Jayton Patterson of Wakefield says he was killed by an explosion in Iraq over the weekend.

The 26-year-old sergeant spoke with his parents on Friday night, just hours before he was killed on patrol by an improvised explosive device.

Patterson was attached to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. He was deployed in mid-June and was due to return home in a few weeks.

His wife Stephanie received a package of things he sent home on Saturday, the same day that the family was told of his death.

The couple had a 15-month-old daughter.

The Department of Defense has not released the details surrounding Patterson's death, but his father said that the family got some basic information on Saturday.

Frank Patterson says his son spent his first four years in the Marines in Washington, where he got a firsthand look at the wreckage of the Nine-Eleven terrorist attacks.