1:41:01
that he was really scared
1:41:03
and that he didn't want to have to go to Iraq.
1:41:05
So we were able to have a whole conversation
1:41:07
about sometimes some fear is healthy
1:41:09
because it keeps our senses about us.
1:41:11
And that's when he told me
1:41:13
that he had not told anyone else
1:41:14
but he knew he was going to Baghdad.
1:41:19
We were as everybody, we were glued to the TV.
1:41:23
Just glued completely glued to the television
1:41:26
in hopes of seeing a glimpse of him.
1:41:28
'Can't you please go over to where the Helicopters are?
1:41:30
Can't you please let us see him?'
1:41:33
Then that night it was about 10 something.
1:41:36
I went upstairs to the bedroom
1:41:38
and I was laying in bed
1:41:39
and I was flipping the channels with the remote
1:41:40
and all I heard was
1:41:42
'Black Hawk down in south-central Iraq.'
1:41:45
What I can tell you at this hour is that last night
1:41:48
the Army did indeed lose a Black Hawk helicopter.
1:41:51
We're being told by officers on the ground
1:41:54
that there were six occupants inside the Black Hawk.
1:41:57
Well the next morning I got up and I said
1:41:59
'You push those thoughts out of your mind.
1:42:01
Okay Jesus, I need you to come here.
1:42:03
I need you Jesus you've got to help me through this.
1:42:06
The Army called me
1:42:07
and I remember getting on the phone
1:42:09
and him saying-- asking me was I Lila Lipscomb,
1:42:11
and I said yes,
1:42:13
and he said 'mother of Sargeant Michael Patterson?'
1:42:17
and I remember dropping the telephone.
1:42:23
And all that I can honestly say is
1:42:25
that I remember is 'Ma'am, the United States Army
1:42:29
the Secretary of Defense regretfully informs you...
1:42:36
' That's all I know.
1:42:39
The grief grabbed me so hard
1:42:43
that I even fell on the floor.
1:42:45
And I was alone,
1:42:46
I didn't have anybody to pick me up.
1:42:49
So I even crawled over to my desk
1:42:53
I was hanging on and I remember screaming
1:42:57
'Why does it have to be Michael?
1:42:59
Why did you have to take my son?