SSG Patrick Douglas Hamburger, U.S. Army
25 May 1981 - 6 August 2011
Staff Sergeant Patrick Douglas Hamburger was 30 years old when he gave his life with 30 other American Heroes in the service of his Country on August 6, 2011, when their CH-47Chinook helicopter, call sign Extortion 17, was shot down in Wardak Province, Afghanistan. Patrick was the Flight Engineer and one of two Gunners on the mission. Pat resided in Grand Island, NE with Candie Reagan his future wife and their daughters Veronica Reagan and Payton Hamburger. He was born in Sioux City, Iowa on Memorial Day, May 25, 1981. Pat moved to Lincoln, NE in 1985 with his parents, Douglas Hamburger and Joyce Peck and his twin brothers Michael Hamburger and Christopher Hamburger. He graduated from Lincoln Southeast High School in 1999.
Pat enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1998, when he was a junior in high school. He worked as a plumber until 2008 when he was promoted to be a full-time Chinook Flight Engineer with the NE Army National Guard Aviation Support unit in Grand Island. Pat met Candie in 2005, moved to Grand Island with her and Veronica in 2008, and welcomed Payton into the world in January of 2009. Pat was a mechanical genius who loved his Country immensely. Pat loved being with his Family and Friends. He took great pride in maintaining his Chinook, or the V-Day Express as he called it. He loved being a soldier and took great pride in his 13 years of service.
Pat is survived by his girls, Candie Reagan, Veronica Reagan and Payton Hamburger of Lincoln, NE, father and step-mother Douglas and Shaune Hamburger of Knoxville, TN, mother Joyce Peck of Lincoln, NE, brothers Michael Hamburger of Summit, NJ and Christopher Hamburger of Saint Louis, MO, grandmother Jacque Hamburger of Omaha, NE, step-siblings Jessica Francis, Jeremy Francis and Joshua Francis of Knoxville, TN and aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and brothers in arms.
