In Memoriam

[Grace]

#4

6 August 2011

Nebraska Army Air Guardsman Sergeant Patrick Hamburger was killed on 6th August 2011 in the Chinook helicopter crash in Wardak province, Afghanistan. The 30-year-old father had only been in Afghanistan for about a week before the incident.


Sgt. Hamburger's stepfather, DeLayne Peck, told local news that his stepson had joined the Air Guard when he was 18, and that he planned to propose to the mother of his 2-year-old daughter when he returned from Afghanistan.

From the Daily Sentinel, Colorado -

Patrick Hamburger planned to propose to his girlfriend, but had a job to do first: a mission in Afghanistan.

The 30-year-old sergeant from Grand Island, Neb., joined the Nebraska National Guard when he was a senior at Lincoln Southeast High School, but this was his first deployment, his brother Chris Hamburger told The Associated Press.

"He didn't have to go, and he wanted to go because his group was getting deployed. He wanted to be there for them. That's him for you," Chris Hamburger said, adding that Patrick always looked out for his two younger brothers and friends.

He was also the kind of guy who helped his girlfriend raise her 13-year-old daughter from another relationship, as well as the couple's own 2-year-old daughter, and planned to propose marriage when he got home, Chris Hamburger said.

Patrick Hamburger had been in Afghanistan less than two weeks and had arrived at Forward Operating Base Shank a few days before climbing aboard the helicopter to rush to the aid of an Army Ranger unit under fire from insurgents.

"It doesn't come as a total surprise that he was trying to help people and that's how it all ended up happening," Chris Hamburger said.