Nickname(s) Mac Battles and wars Iraq War Unit Petaluma Name Patrick McCaffrey, | Battles/wars Iraq War Rank Sergeant Years of service 2001–2004 | |
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Born May 26, 1970
Palo Alto, California. ( 1970-05-26 ) Awards Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Combat Action Badge, California Memorial Medal Died June 22, 2004, Balad, Iraq | ||
Service/branch United States Army Allegiance United States of America | ||
Sergeant Patrick R. McCaffrey Sr. (May 26, 1970 – June 22, 2004) was a United States Army National Guard soldier killed in Iraq.
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 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.
McCaffrey's mother Nadia McCaffrey was dissatisfied with the findings by the United States Army of her son's death and asked Senator Barbara Boxer for assistance to pressure the Pentagon for answers about the case. Nadia McCaffrey stated, "I really want this story to come out; I want people to know what happened to my son, there is no doubt to me that this (ambushes by attached Iraqi units) is still happening to soldiers today, but our chain of command is awfully reckless; they don’t seem to give a damn about what’s happening to soldiers." "He was killed by the Iraqis that he was training. People in this country need to know that."
On June 20, 2005, the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division concluded that the Iraqi Security Forces officers patrolling with them had killed McCaffrey.
McCaffrey was promoted posthumously to sergeant.