(SBT24/7News) The Patriot Guard Riders escorted Sgt. Nicholas Patterson’s body home to Rochester after it was flown Monday to Grissom Air Force Base in Peru, in preparation for Tuesday's calling hours and Wednesday’s funeral service at Rochester High School, a guard spokesman said Tuesday morning.

Today, friends and family will attend visitation beginning at 2 p.m. at the high school. The funeral services will be there at 2 p.m. Wednesday, and Patriot Guard will honor both the soldier’s sacrifice and that of his family with a presence of flag-bearing riders.

Patterson was killed Sept. 10 as he and other soldiers were returning from a raid in western Baghdad.

A 2001 graduate of Rochester High School, Patterson joined the Army on May 18, 2004. After basic training, he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, serving with the 3-505th Parachute Infantry Battalion and 1-73 Cavalry.

Patterson’s military experience included being a member of C Troop 1-73 CAV as a scout in support of Hurricane Katrina, and he was deployed twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He earned the Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Ribbon, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, and the Parachutist’s Badge.

Patterson was born Feb. 26, 1983. Patterson married his high school sweetheart, the former Jayme Saner of Akron, on Dec. 27, 2006. They became the parents of a son, Reilley Nicholas Caden Patterson. They live in Fayetteville, N.C.

He is the son of James and Virginia Patterson of Rochester, and Jane and Scott Holmes of Warsaw, all of whom survive. Additional survivors include a stepbrother, Kyle McLochlin of Rochester, and a sister, Tai Johnson of Mishawaka; his grandparents, Charles and Mollie Patterson of Seabring, Fla., and Larry Holmes of Alma, Mich., and Betty Hewett of Mishawaka.

He was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Harold and Kathryn Hoge and Mildred Holmes.

Full military honors will be awarded Patterson during services in the Rochester High School gymnasium Wednesday at 2 p.m. Students at the school are being dismissed early both today and Wednesday in conjunction with the services.

A trust fund has been established at 1st Source Bank of Rochester for Patterson’s 4-year-old son. Memorials may be sent in care of the Reilley Patterson Trust Fund to any 1st Source Bank location. Envelopes also will be available during visitation and funeral service at the high school.

Earl-Love Funeral Home, Akron, is in charge of arrangements.

The family has asked the public for its understanding and respect for a private, family-only burial service at the Akron Cemetery after services at the high school Wednesday.