Richard H. Patterson (November 6, 1931 – April 12, 2010) was a

chief petty officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxi� ...

in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

, decorated for saving the crew of his vessel, after the skipper and executive officer became casualties during a 1966

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while eng ...

attack, in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. Patterson was born in 1931 and grew up in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. He enlisted in the Coast Guard as a young man, and by the mid-1960s he was a chief boatswain's mate.

Attack on ''Point Welcome''

U.S. Coast Guard cutter ''Point Welcome'' was on a three-day patrol, near Vietnam's

demilitarized zone A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...

when, in the early morning of August 11, 1966, she was attacked by a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Martin B-57 Canberra The Martin B-57 Canberra is an American-built, twin-engined tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft that entered service with the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1953. The B-57 is a license-built version of the British English Electric C ...

, in a case of friendly fire. Standard procedure for small vessels, like ''Point Welcome'', was to run without lights, in areas where enemy vessels might be encountered. The first strafing run ignited a fuel can on the vessel's

fantail Fantails are small insectivorous songbirds of the genus ''Rhipidura'' in the family Rhipiduridae, native to Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Most of the species are about long, specialist aerial feeders, and named as "f ...

, which Patterson extinguished. The second run hit the bridge, killing the ship's captain,

Lieutenant Junior Grade Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), is ...

(LTJG) David Brostrom, and Engineman Second Class Jerry Phillips,Vietnam Veterans Memorial Virtual Wall – Brostrom
/ref>Vietnam Veterans Memorial Virtual Wall – Phillips
/ref>Larzelere, p 25 two of seven Coast Guardsmen killed in action during the Vietnam War. The ship's

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

, LTJG Ross Bell was severely wounded and several of the crew injured. Patterson proceeded to the bridge and took control of the cutter, executing a series of evasive maneuvers that prevented the B-57 from hitting her again. As the rudder was damaged he steered by controlling the cutter's two

propellers A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

. When the B-57 abandoned its attack, after running out of ammunition, he proceeded to the nearest base, until more USAF aircraft arrived to continue the attack. Patterson grounded the vessel and ordered the crew to abandon ship, ensuring the wounded had life jackets and were with someone able-bodied. Patterson was awarded a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

for his actions.

Legacy

*In 2002 the Coast Guard named the recreation center at

Training Center Petaluma Training Center Petaluma is a Coast Guard training facility in the northern California counties of Sonoma and Marin. Approximately 4,000 students train there each year. It was formerly the U.S. Army Two Rock Ranch Station. The training center i ...

near

Petaluma, California Petaluma (Miwok languages, Miwok: ''Péta Lúuma'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, California, located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 a ...

after Patterson. *In 2007 he was inducted in the Surface Navy Hall of Fame. In 2010, Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, then the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

's senior

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

, proposed that all 58 Sentinel class cutters should be named after

enlisted Enlisted may refer to: * Enlisted rank An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or ...

sailors in the Coast Guard, or its precursors, who were recognised for heroism. Patterson was to have been the namesake of the seventeenth cutter but it was named after Master Chief Donald H Horsely, who retired with eleven

service stripes A service stripe is an embroidered diagonal stripe worn on the sleeve(s) of some military and paramilitary uniforms. In the case of the United States military, service stripes are authorized for wear by enlisted personnel on the lower part of the ...

and the was commissioned in May 2016.

References

External links

Interview with Chief Richard "Pat" Patterson - Point Welcome Incident - at YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Richard H. 1931 births 2010 deaths United States Coast Guard chiefs United States Coast Guard personnel of the Vietnam War