"All the wars in the world even if you won 'em, can't repay one mother for the loss of one son. But even at that when she says to you, 'That's my oldest boy's picture. He was lost in the war,' there is, behind that mist in her eye, a shine of pride." - Will Rogers, 17 December 1933 Hero Stars Honors Our American Hero
Sgt Patrick R McCaffrey Sr. US Army
Hometown: Tracy, California
Patrick McCaffrey was born in Palo Alto, California. He was a U.S. Army National Guard soldier who joined the National Guard the day after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Patrick was a manager with a collision repair company in the Silicon Valley when he enlisted in the National Guard and was assigned to Company A, 579th Engineer Battalion, Engineer Brigade, 40th Infantry Division, Multi-National Corps Iraq, APO AE 09342 based in Petaluma, California.
On June 22, 2004, McCaffrey was on a patrol with Iraqi Security Forces and the Platoon's LT. when the two U.S. soldiers were killed, initially thought to be Iraqi insurgents in an ambush near Balad, Iraq. However, witnesses reported that members of the Iraqi Security Forces accompanying McCaffrey's unit opened fire. At the same time, a third gunman simultaneously drove up to the American unit in a van, climbed onto the vehicle and fired at the soldiers. Army Spc. Patrick R. McCaffrey Sr.34, Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom assigned to the 579th Engineer Battalion, Army National Guard, Petaluma, Calif.; killed June 22, 2004 when enemy forces ambushed his ground patrol in Balad, Iraq.
What is a Hero?
A man that gives himself at all times without questions
A man that takes the heavy load when no one else can
A man that makes every one around him feel special and important
A man everyone is proud to have known
A man that loves his family and thinks of them always
A man that runs to the aid of a fallen soldier
A man that is loved and respected by all that he meets
A man that is stronger than life itself
A man that no one will ever forget
A true Hero is Sergeant Patrick McCaffrey
- Jeannette Sarla
Let the memory of Patrick McCaffrey be with us forever.....
“He was a soldier, a good one and a brave one, one who gave his life for the values that made this country great,” said Maj. Gen. Thomas Eres of the California National Guard. “And he did it as a volunteer.”

Hero Stars,