Honoring as many Washington Parish World War II veterans as I could find is something I set my mind to some years ago. Somehow, I missed the late David Ivy Patten, perhaps because the native of Catahoula Parish and transplant to Washington Parish predeceased my endeavor. But once I got wind of his heroism, it became my mission to learn more.
Born in December of 1923 to Ivy Edward Patten and Mattie Harrell Patten, David Ivy Patten was a graduate of Block High School in Jonesville, Louisiana, and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. A successful building contractor, Patten - a Democrat - was also a natural in politics, serving two terms, spanning from 1964 to 1972, for Catahoula Parish and then Catahoula and Concordia Parishes, combined, in the Louisiana House of Representatives.
Patten married Ethel Inez Ewing, with whom he had four children - David Mancil Patten, Wayne Patten, Diane P. Morace, and Sandra "Sandy" Cooper. Then, he married Carolyn McCauley in 1971. And he brought his business --- Patten's Metal Express --- to Franklinton, moving here from Jonesville in 1986. And that is where I, purchasing materials for our farm, learned about the heroic military service of the late David I. Patten.
Pentecostal in faith, he succumbed in 1998 and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in his home parish of Catahoula. But son Wayne Patten and family continue his father's legacy in the operation of the Patten enterprise on Highway 10 in Franklinton. This was where I found his granddaughter (David I.'s great-granddaughter) Stormi Harris who shared valuable information with me about her great-grandfather. It is also where I met my newfound friend Phyllis Richey, a longtime Patten family friend and employee, who spoke fondly of David I. Patten.
While Patten was prominent, leading a productive life post-war in Louisiana, it was his service in the Second World War that captured my attention. In my recap of the World War II veterans, I concluded with the bombing of Japan which, leading to Japan's surrender, pretty much ended the war --- a real blessing. While I cannot speak for all, my father, a World War II liaison pilot, did not relish the thought of going from the European theatre to the Pacific. This, I gleaned from the tone of his missives written to my mother. And as I discovered, David I. Patten had a hand in bringing him home for good.
It was the Enola Gay, a modified Boeing B-29 named for the mother of the pilot Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., that on August 6, 1945, dropped the atomic bomb --- the first ever used in warfare --- on Hiroshima, Japan.
David I. Patten played a vital role in this endeavor, toiling in Wendover, Utah, as the primary welder during the building of the bomb. Wendover Army Air Field is where the 509th Composite Group of the United States Army Air Force was activated in December of 1944. Patten's role was assembling the pieces, constructing the bomb which was nicknamed "Little Boy." While airborne on the way to Japan, it was to be filled with Uranium 238.
But the catch was to provide enough time for the bomb crew to escape after "Little Boy" dropped. Patten labored for three months, constructing a tail for the bomb that would sufficiently slow it down on descent so that the Enola Gay could escape after the drop. Specifically, this bomb tail that Patten helped build gave the plane, going 350 mph, three minutes and 17 miles of escape time and distance, respectively, after the bomb drop. Notably, before the plane took off for Japan, David I. Patten was the last member of the 509th Composite Bombing Squadron to handle the bomb, loading and securing it in its special apparatus.
We are indebted to the late David I. Patten, former Franklinton resident, for his military service which effectively saved the lives of innumerable Allied troops. The Bockscar, another B-29 bomber, dropped the bomb "Fat Man" on Nagasaki three days later on August 9, 1945. And Japan soon surrendered.
Yes, I am familiar with the controversy over the atomic bombing. While to each his own, this is my column, and my opinion. There was dire need to end the war and curtail casualties which certainly would have ballooned in the Pacific. And how soon folks forget. Frankly, as we used to say as kids, "They started it." For the daughter of a U.S. Army officer in World War II who, lucky for me, survived the war, it boils down to three words: Remember Pearl Harbor.
What caught my eye at Patten's Metal Express was an impressive print of the Enola Gay, signed by the crew for Wayne Patten, Mr. David's son --- a true treasure. Without the heroism of these men, and our own David I. Patten and the 509th Composite Bombing Squadron, history may have been rewritten. And without them, our forebears may not have survived the war.
I will remember David I. Patten this October when my husband and I journey with a group to Sedalia, Missouri, just east of Whiteman Air Force Base, originally the Sedalia Army Air Field. There, the U. S. Air Force 509th Bomb Wing, which operates the B-2 Spirit Stealth bomber, has its roots in the 509th Composite Group of World War II - quite a heroic group.
Please join me in giving thanks to the World War II heroes who served their country, bringing the Allies (the United States, England, and the Soviet Union) victory against the Axis (Japan, Germany, and Italy) in the 1940s. Our fathers and grandfathers --- heroes among us --- defeated them, ensuring our freedom. And David I. Patten played a vital role.
