Remembering Fayette County’s Gary Pate formerly missing in action

Remembering Fayette County’s Gary Pate formerly missing in action

Elaine Pate Griffin opened the package with slightly trembling hands at her home in northeast Georgia, as her brother, David Pate, looked on.  They both knew what was inside was a link to their beloved brother, Gary Pate, who had vanished during a night-time mission in Vietnam nearly fifty-seven years before – the brother David has always considered his hero, even before the brother became a national one.  The excitement over seeing a physical f…