Sergeant Patete was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. During the night of 26 November 1951, when the temperature was twenty degrees below zero, the Chinese initiated a vicious attack. Sergeant Patete was Killed in Action while defending his position near Kunu-ri, North Korea. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Patete was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, 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.