{"id":472454,"date":"2026-10-21T08:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T08:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/472454\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T08:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T08:00:11","slug":"friends-family-remember-air-force-tech-sgt-ian-patterson-after-fatal-alamodome-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/472454\/","title":{"rendered":"Friends, family remember Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ian Patterson after fatal Alamodome fall"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Friends and family gathered at a San Antonio bar to remember Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ian Patterson<\/a>, who died after falling while rappelling from the rafters of the Alamodome ahead of a UTSA football game.<\/p>\n

The memorial was held at Stout House near Culebra and Talley roads, where Patterson regularly played poker with friends on Tuesday nights. Those who knew him said the gathering was a chance to honor not only his military service but also the friendships and family connections he built in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hurt. I didn\u2019t want to believe it at first,\u201d said Breanna Valdez, a friend of Patterson\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Valdez said the loss remains difficult to process.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart broke really bad. It still hurts,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019ll ever get over something like that, especially having a good friend like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friends and family gathered for a memorial and balloon release to celebrate Patterson\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Tyler Hsu, another friend, said he hopes Patterson is remembered as a soldier, a friend and, above all, a family man.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want him to be remembered most as, for one, a soldier; for two, a great friend; three, a family man \u2014 family man most of all,\u201d Hsu said.<\/p>\n

Patterson died after falling at the Alamodome on Saturday, Oct. 17, during preparations for a ceremony and demonstration honoring members of the armed forces and veterans ahead of the UTSA game. He had been scheduled to rappel from the stadium\u2019s rafters.<\/p>\n

Hsu said he will miss the time he spent with Patterson and the friendships they shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could have sworn you would have shown up later tonight anyway,\u201d Hsu said. \u201cAnd it sucks that I know you won\u2019t, and you\u2019re not going to again, and I\u2019m going to miss that so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patterson was from Fort Stewart, Georgia, and served in the Air Force for 15 years.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Brig. Gen. Scott C. Mills, commander of the 57th Wing, said the loss has deeply affected the military community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis tragedy is felt deeply across the 57th Wing,\u201d Mills said. \u201cTech. Sgt. Patterson and his service mattered immensely to our wing, and to the family, friends, and teammates who had the privilege of knowing and serving alongside him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mills said the unit is focused on supporting Patterson\u2019s family, loved ones, and fellow airmen as they grieve.<\/p>\n

Hsu described Patterson as a friend who was loved by many.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were so loved. You are going to be so missed,\u201d Hsu said. \u201cYou were such a great friend to everyone here and to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what she would say to Patterson, Valdez offered a simple message: \u201cI love you and I miss you.\u201d<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe campaign has been started to support Patterson\u2019s family. More than $130,000 has been raised as of the time of this story\u2019s publication. <\/p>\n

The cause of Patterson\u2019s fall remains under investigation. <\/p>\n

Read also:<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Friends and family gathered at a San Antonio bar to remember Air Force Tech. Sgt.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[27009,159847,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-472454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-air-force","tag-ian-patterson","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}