THE WALL OF FACES

May those who served never be forgotten. Rest peace 1LT. Green, I salute your brave soul. My heart goes out to you and your family.

First Lieutenant Jeffrey Wallace Green, Served with Company C, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, United States Army Vietnam.

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. Thank you for stepping up and answering your country's call. Rest easy knowing you will never be forgotten.

Dear Lt Jeffrey Green,
Thank you for your service as an Infantry Unit Commander. It has been too long, and it's about time for us all to acknowledge the sacrifices of those like you who answered our nation's call. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

Jeff was my fraternity brother and roommate at Western Kentucky University. After graduation, I moved to Charlotte, NC to take my first teaching position. Jeff was waiting in Florida to be called into the back to camp. Since he didn’t have a job, and I needed a roommate, he decided to move to NC with me.

If you knew Jeff, you wouldn’t be surprised to know in three days he had a job making more money than I was. Jeff had become a big brother to me in every since of the word. He taught me how to cook, do minor repairs on a car, how to drink bourbon straight and was my main confidant and “Father Confessor”. I told him he was a “Dear Abbie” in pants.

Jeff was slated to be best man when Pat and married. Unfortunately, Uncle Sam had different ideas and he was called to training camp. My dad, who was very fond of Jeff, stood in for him instead.

The last time I saw Jeff was after Pat and I were married. We were teaching in Charlotte and met Jeff in Charleston SC for a weekend and where we all stayed with a mutual friend, Brenda Mauney who was also from Charlotte. It was a great weekend, dinners at Trawlers, an excursion to Fort Sumpter and trips to the beach. I have a great photo of Jeff, with his Zippo lighter and a finger in one ea, trying to light one of the cannons at Fort Sumpter.

I’ll never forget that grey day in Charlotte when we got the news Jeff had been killed. I think part of Pat and me died too.

We flew to Florida for the funeral. Jeff’s family were just as wonderful and kind to us as if we had been part of their family. I think we were that day.

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of Jeff’s death. In some ways it seems like we just saw him a few weeks ago. That’s how vivid his memory still is. I don’t think a day has gone by that Pat and I have not thought of or talked about Jeff. He’s loved, missed and still a huge part of our lives. We will always carry with us his friendship, his humor, and his laugh.