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Sergeant First Class John Green

L Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment

John Lamar Green was born July 20th, 1925 in Cedar Bluff, Alabama. Life was quiet in the town with fewer than 500 people. Cedar groves rose above the bluffs overlooking the town, providing ample space to explore for young Green.

Sadly, when the world descended into chaos during the Second World War, Green’s life would change dramatically. He was drafted on August 16th, 1944. It is currently unknown where he fought during World War Two. Following the war, Green returned to Cedar Falls. The forests he roamed in his youth remained, but he did not. After a brief stint in college, he was recalled to federal service. The next war to be fought was radically different from the last. The Korean War was politically fueled, with the war fought in strict phases and stop-gap maneuvers.

Green arrived in Korea just before Operation Ripper, a UN offensive aimed to push the North Koreans across the Han River and solidify control over Seoul. The operation followed on the heels of Operation Killer, which was similar to Ripper in pushing the North Koreans further north. The 1st Cavalry Division was placed on the Western flank of the push, assisting the ROK 6th Division on Line Albany. The Offensive began on March 7th, following the largest bombardment of the entire war. Offshore naval bombardment, artillery strikes, mortar rounds, and 75mm recoilless rifles fired on the entrenched North Koreans. On the advance, the L Company encounter moderate resistance. North Koreans utilized small arms, machine guns, and minefields to deter American forces from advancing. During this advance, SFC Green was killed in action, receiving shrapnel to his thigh from a mortar round. Crumpling to the ground, he was dead in under five minutes, his femoral artery severed.

Click on a photo in this slideshow for a closer look or click on the arrows at the edges of the slideshow to look through the photos.

Sources:

 

  • US Army. The First Team: the First Cavalry Division in Korea, 18 July 1950-18 January 1952. Turner Pub. Co., 1994.

  • Mossman, Billy C. Ebb and Flow: November 1950-July 1951. Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 1990. 

  • The National Archives, Department of the Army, et al. Records on Korean War Dead and Wounded Army Casualties, Created, 1950 - 1970, Documenting the Period 2/13/1950 - 12/31/1953.

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