Corporal Patterson was a member of the 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Automatic Weapons) Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. He was seriously wounded while fighting the enemy near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea on 27 November 1950 and died of those wounds later that day

Patterson was awarded the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.