Green still remembers brother’s death in Vietnam
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“We walked into an ambush,” said James. “He got hit by a .50 caliber machine gun and no blood was available. He bled to death.”
Sgt. Wilburn L. (Leon) Green was a veteran of almost three years of continuous service in Vietnam when he was killed in May of 1969. He was 24.
His brother James, then 26, was with him even though congressional law prohibited two brothers from serving in combat at the same time. James lied when military officers asked if he had a brother in the war because he thought once he arrived in Vietnam his presence would force Leon to be sent home.
“I think that’s why he stayed over there so long,” said James. “He could have come home, but by staying over there he thought he could keep me out.”
The following story was published in the Southern Standard on May 13, 1969:
Sgt. Wilburn L. (Leon) Green, a veteran of almost three years of continuous service in Vietnam, has been killed in action.
Mrs. Annie M. Green of 100 Stroud Street, McMinnville, was notified by military authorities early Sunday that her son had been missing since May 8. She was informed Monday morning her son’s body had been found and positively identified.
Sgt. Green died in action near Ben Hoa, about 30 miles north of Saigon. He was Warren County’s seventh victim of the Vietnam campaign.
Sgt. James A. Green, a brother of the deceased, was also serving in Vietnam. He was immediately removed from the battle zone and arrived home Monday.
Green had been frequently decorated by both the American and South Vietnamese armed forces. He was an advisor with the 52nd Intelligence and Reconnais-sance Company who was serving his fourth tour of duty in Vietnam. One of his most recent decorations was the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Silver Star.
A 1963 graduate of Central High School, Green entered the Army in September of the same year.