SAINT CHARLES, MO, USA U.S. Army CPT, HHC, 1ST BRIGADE, 1ST ARMORED DIVISION, RAY BARRACKS, GERMANY AR RAMADI, IRAQ 12/06/2006
Captain Patriquin was exactly the sort of officer we need in Iraq. He spoke at least five languages including fluent Arabic, and was a major player in getting Ramadi sheiks to start supporting Coalition operations by sending men into the Iraqi Police and urging civilians to expose al Qaeda terrorists. He fought in one of the fiercest battles of the Afghanistan war, Operation Anaconda, later receiving the Bronze Star.
Patriquin also provided a terrific inbriefing, giving an overview of a city that seems slowly to be improving but is still too much like the local graffiti states: “The graveyard of the Americans.
Gary Patriquin, Patriquin’s father described his son as hard working with a gift for picking up languages. He could speak Arabic, Spanish, two Central American Indian dialects and Portuguese. Travis has always been outgoing, Gary Patriquin said. He always seemed to help the underachiever.
Gary Patriquin said his son was assigned to Iraq in January 2006. He worked so well with local tribes that one, the Alduresha, adopted him as one of their own and gave him the name Wissam, which means warrior in English. That was Travis, Gary Patriquin said. He was a very outgoing person.
Even as a young boy, he said, his son wanted to be a soldier and was fascinated with survival training in activities such as Boy Scouts. He was amazing, his father said. Walking on a wire between trees 60 feet off the ground was a thrill to his son, he said.
During boot camp, he said, Travis showed so much leadership potential that he was drawn into Ranger training and the Special Forces. Much of his Special Forces work is classified, his father said, but he knows his son served in Central America around 1993 or 1994.
After returning to Fort Campbell in Kentucky, he said, his son decided to take his language skills to the next level by attending the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif. Patriquin went on to attend officer school at Fort Benning, Ga., and then was stationed in Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C. The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, sent Patriquin to Afghanistan.
Patriquin is survived by his wife Amy and their 3 children and his parents Gary and Connie Patriquin of Lockport, Ill., and three siblings.
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