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SGM Mike Vining
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Greer, Edward, 1SG.
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Contact Info
Home Town Rocky Mount, Virginia
Last Address Smithfield, North Carolina
Date of Passing Nov 27, 2016
Location of Interment *Cremated - Local, North Carolina
Edward (Ed) Akers Greer, 83, passed away peacefully at SECU Hospice House in Smithfield, North Carolina on November 27, 2016.
One of 15 children, Edward was born in the Little Gap Community on Grassy Hill in Franklin County, Virginia. The oldest son of Harry Thomas and Oveeda (Hodges) Greer, he was the first in his extended family to graduate from Franklin County High School (1953) and later obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Columbus State University in Georgia (1989).
Edward spent 24 years in the U.S. Army, including 12 years in Explosive Ordinance Disposal. He was a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam Wars and a parachutist. While in the military, he received a Bronze Star for valor. Later in his career he worked as an engineer with NASA at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Recently, he served as guardian ad litem for Johnston County, NC and as an officer of the American Legion in Smithfield.
A born storyteller, genealogist and writer, Edward wrote short stories and compiled a pictorial history of the "Misty Mountain" families from Grassy Hill. He was a proud Scots-Irish descendent of Clan MacGregor in Scotland and James "the Emigrant" Greer.
Edward is survived by his wife, Gary Ann (Cate) Greer; a daughter, Dr. Edrie Greer (Charles Menn); stepchildren Rachel Mills (Freddie) and Dr. John Dowling; grandchildren Cassidy and Hannah Dowling and Freddie and Cate Mills; sisters Lonnie Holland, Virginia Hodges, and Carolyn Lyman (Mike); a brother, A.J. (Jim) Greer; a best friend, Grover Miller; and many nieces, nephews and cousins as well as two cats, Mr. O and Mz. Purdy. His beloved dog, Andy, preceded him in death by just two weeks.
Description This campaign was from 30 January to 1 April 1968. On 29 January 1968 the Allies began the Tet-lunar new year expecting the usual 36-hour peaceful holiday truce. Because of the threat of a large-scale attack and communist buildup around Khe Sanh, the cease fire order was issued in all areas over which the Allies were responsible with the exception of the I CTZ, south of the Demilitarized Zone.
Determined enemy assaults began in the northern and Central provinces before daylight on 30 January and in Saigon and the Mekong Delta regions that night. Some 84,000 VC and North Vietnamese attacked or fired upon 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 5 of 6 autonomous cities, 64 of 242 district capitals and 50 hamlets. In addition, the enemy raided a number of military installations including almost every airfield. The actual fighting lasted three days; however Saigon and Hue were under more intense and sustained attack.
The attack in Saigon began with a sapper assault against the U.S. Embassy. Other assaults were directed against the Presidential Palace, the compound of the Vietnamese Joint General Staff, and nearby Ton San Nhut air base.
At Hue, eight enemy battalions infiltrated the city and fought the three U.S. Marine Corps, three U.S. Army and eleven South Vietnamese battalions defending it. The fight to expel the enemy lasted a month. American and South Vietnamese units lost over 500 killed, while VC and North Vietnamese battle deaths may have been somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000.
Heavy fighting also occurred in two remote regions: around the Special Forces camp at Dak To in the central highlands and around the U.S. Marines Corps base at Khe Sanh. In both areas, the allies defeated attempts to dislodge them. Finally, with the arrival of more U.S. Army troops under the new XXIV Corps headquarters to reinforce the marines in the northern province, Khe Sanh was abandoned.
Tet proved a major military defeat for the communists. It had failed to spawn either an uprising or appreciable support among the South Vietnamese. On the other hand, the U.S. public became discouraged and support for the war was seriously eroded. U.S. strength in South Vietnam totaled more than 500,000 by early 1968. In addition, there were 61,000 other allied troops and 600,000 South Vietnamese.
The Tet Offensive also dealt a visibly severe setback to the pacification program, as a result of the intense fighting needed to root out VC elements that clung to fortified positions inside the towns. For example, in the densely populated delta there had been approximately 14,000 refugees in January; after Tet some 170,000 were homeless. The requirement to assist these persons seriously inhibited national recovery efforts.