Shelburne Marine Reservist Dies in Iraq

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(Host) A marine reservist who died in Iraq this week is being remembered as a quiet man who felt called to serve his country. Thirty-nine year old Lieutenant Colonel David Greene lived with his family in Shelburne.

VPR’s Steve Zind has this report.

(Zind) Greene moved to Vermont from Pennsylvania three and a half years ago to work at BF Goodrich in Vergennes. He was a member of a Pennsylvania-based reserve unit which had joined a Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron serving in Iraq.

William Hogan is a Shelburne neighbor and a friend of the Greenes. Hogan says Greene was a devoted husband and father. He remembers a time last summer when Greene and his family joined Hogan and his wife on their boat on Lake Champlain.

(Hogan) “It was just a lovely time. He admitted that he wasn’t as much of a sailor as his wife, but he was very seaworthy. We had a sensor problem and he immediately said, ‘I’ll dive under the boat and see if I can see what it is,’ and he just dove right in and attacked the problem. Quiet, soft spoken, an outstanding gentleman.”

(Zind) Hogan says he talked to Greene last Christmas, just before he shipped out to Iraq. He says Greene was committed to serving in the Iraqi conflict.

(Hogan) “He knew at that point he was going to be deployed in a couple of weeks. I asked him what he was going to be doing and he said he was a helicopter pilot. I said, ‘Oh my.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, it’s the kind of thing they try and shoot down.'”

(Zind) David Greene died this week when the helicopter he was piloting came under fire west of Baghdad. He is survived by his wife, Sarah, and two young children; a son and a daughter.

For Vermont Public Radio, I’m Steve Zind.

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