
John Graham Patterson
John Graham Patterson was a great uncle on my mother’s side. He was affectionately known by most as “Uncle Johnnie.” Johnnie was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1912. A Harvard graduate, he was on his way to a successful career in advertising when America was drawn into the war. Despite being thirty years old and a father, Johnnie answered the call and joined the Navy, receiving an officer’s commission in 1942. He commented to his wife Betty in a letter about his colleagues, “I