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SGM Mike Vining
to remember
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.
Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Phase V Campaign (1968)
From Month/Year
July / 1968
To Month/Year
November / 1968
Description This campaign was from 1 July to 1 November 1968. During this period a country-wide effort was begun to restore government control of territory lost to the enemy since the Tet offensive. The enemy attempted another such offensive on 17-18 August but his efforts were comparatively feeble and were quickly overwhelmed by Allied forces.
In the fall of 1968 the South Vietnamese government, with major U.S. support, launched an accelerated pacification campaign. All friendly forces were coordinated and brought to bear on the enemy in every tactical area of operation. In these intensified operations, friendly units first secured a target area, then Vietnamese government units, regional forces/popular forces, police and civil authorities screened the inhabitants, seeking members of the Viet Cong infrastructure. This technique was so successful against the political apparatus that it became the basis for subsequent friendly operations. Government influence expanded into areas of the countryside previously dominated by the Viet Cong to such an extent that two years later at least some measure of government control was evident in all but a few remote regions.
