At this point, it was 1966 and Hong Kong was under British rule. So he came over straight from China to the US. He was stationed in Savannah, Georgia, and was mistakenly sent to Saigon, Vietnam due to bad paperwork in 1968. He never fought in battle because he was an excellent engineer and ended up fixing helicopters and other vehicles. Becoming a very valuable asset for the US. Eventually, he was able to come back after writing letters to his home and the government about how they messed up his paperwork.  

He was able to bring his mother and sister to America with some of the money he made in engineering. His mother had many horrible experiences with what she thought was her homeland, where she felt she should feel the safest. She swore to never go back to China after what happened, she felt betrayed. Her land and money, everything was taken from her. “No matter the discrimination and prejudice I face here, nothing could be worse than becoming an alien in your own country”- Kin-Yu Moy. 

She realized that she needed to be strong for her kids and set a good example for them. To be able to persevere through hard times and work hard, Patrick saw this in his mother and embodied it. This helped mold him into the man he is today.