Monday, February 22, 2016
I met Pat when we were both members of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at the U. of Louisville. We became good friends as well. I was a year ahead of Pat, but we were both at Louisville on NROTC scholarships, got commissions in the U. S. Navy upon graduation and were accepted into flight training. Upon earning our wings we were both assigned to VAW12 in Norfolk, VA. Pat was the proud owner of a yellow Triumph TR3 sports car at the time. When he was scheduled to deploy with his detachment on a Mediterranean cruise he asked me to sell this car for him. Not long after deploying Pat, tragically walked into the path of a spinning propellor of his aircraft on the flight deck during the recovery period of night flight operations. He miraculously survived this accident but suffered numerous injuries including the loss of his right arm. I hadn't sold his TR3 yet when he returned and he was able to drive it with one arm, not easy as it had a manual transmission. I didn't see much more of Pat after his return but will always have fond memories of him.
Bill Galloway
