Army Maj. Michael L. Green

Remember Our Heroes

Army Maj. Michael L. Green, 36, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Maj. Green was assigned to Headquarters, V Corps, Heidelberg, Germany; died Jan. 7, 2008 in Laghar Juy, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. Also killed was Sgt. James K. Healy.

Ohio soldier killed in Afghanistan has Mississippi ties
The Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. — The Department of Defense confirmed Jan. 9 the death of former Mississippi resident Maj. Michael L. Green, who was killed Jan. 7 when a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle in Afghanistan.

Green, 36, who was based in Germany and lived in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, was in Afghanistan training militia recruits how to detect and dispose of roadside bombs, his twin sister, Michelle Green LeBatard, told The Mississippi Press.

Green was one of two soldiers killed by the blast in Laghar Juy. Sgt. James K. Healy, 25, of Hesperia, Calif., and based at Fort Knox, Ky., also died. Another soldier was injured as well.

Local police found a roadside bomb and called in the soldiers to assist. A second bomb nearby hit their vehicle.

Green was a member of the Army Special Forces Command assigned to V Corps headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany.

LeBatard, who did not return a message left by The Associated Press, told the Press her brother would often bring fellow soldiers to the coast to introduce them to the area where he grew up.

“He loved the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” LeBatard said. “He lived all over the world, Egypt, Germany, Kansas, but the coast was his home.”

Green attended Pascagoula High School through his junior year, then moved to West Virginia where he graduated from Fairmont State.

He was a member of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps there and joined the Army after college.

“He wanted to make it his career,” LeBatard said.

LeBatard said Green had not seen duty in either Afghanistan or Iraq before deploying. Instead, he was assigned to training troops at Camp Shelby to prepare them to go overseas.

“He felt like he was being slighted,” she said. “He did not want to just send men out, but wanted to serve beside them. He felt there was something that needed to be done. He was trained to do what he did and he wanted to do it.”

In addition to LeBatard, Green is survived by his parents, Hacy Green Sr. and Jane Green, and brothers Hacy Green Jr. and Scott Green. He was not married and did not have children.

LeBatard said funeral arrangements are pending and Green’s body is expected to be returned to his family next week.

Army Maj. Michael L. Green was killed in action on 1/7/08.