Indiana solider dies in Iraq

ROCHESTER, Ind. - A 24-year-old soldier from northern Indiana died while deployed in Iraq, Earl-Love Funeral Home said.\nArmy Sgt. Nicholas Patterson died Monday in Baghdad, according to the Rochester funeral home. Information on the circumstances of Patterson’s death was not immediately released Wednesday by the Department of Defense.\nPatterson was a 2001 graduate of Rochester High School, where he was a top basketball and baseball player.\n“He was a highly competitive, high-energy kid,” baseball coach Brian Hooker said. “You never had to worry about him not bringing his full energy to the field.”\nPatterson’s survivors include his wife, Jayme, and their 4-year-old son in North Carolina.\nLinda Brennan, who was Patterson’s geometry teacher at the school 40 miles south of South Bend, said he had a zest for life.\n“He was hard-working and had a great attitude,” Brennan said. “He had such a great sense of humor and could make a tense moment light.”\nPatterson was the 92nd member of the military from Indiana to have died after being sent to the Middle East for the war in Iraq.