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| Major Bernard Green was a Marine Ranger Battalion commander during Okinawa. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/75506568/bernard-w-green https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/okinawa/chapter6.htm |
Bernard W. Green never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom. Normally I profile one man each day, but today I profiled two. Be sure to read the story about Edward Ruess also, another Okinawa fallen hero.
He was born on March 10, 1919 in Pennsylvania. His parents Bernard and Ruth were born in Ireland and Pennsylvania, respectively. His father worked as a chauffeur. Bernard had one younger sister. By 1940 Bernard had graduated from St. Joseph's College. He got a job working at a shipyard.
He enlisted in the USMC in November 1940. After completing officer candidate school he was assigned to the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion better known as Carlson's Raiders. He participated in the Makin Raid and fought on Guadalcanal in November and December 1942. He also saw action in Bougainville.
Bernard rose to the rank of major and became the commander of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division. During the Battle of Guam in July-August 1944, Major Green was award the Bronze Star and the Silver Star. He earned the Silver Star for holding beachhead on Guam underling withering fire until reinforcements arrived.
After landing on Okinawa on April 1, 1945, Major Green's battalion was sent north, first encountering only light opposition. The Japanese did not allocate too many resources defending the northern part of the island. They did make a stronghold of the highground hill called Mount Yaetake. Major Green's battalion was part of the assault from the west side to take the hill on April 14. His men made it to the crest. Many Japanese let the Marines go past, hiding in the tall grass. A group of Japanese with Nambu machine-guns surprised and killed Major Green on April 15, 1945. He was posthumously awarded another Bronze Star.
An airfield in Okinawa was named after him in his honor.
His grave is at St. Denis Cemetery in Havertown, Pennsylvania.
Last year on this date I profiled Donald Casavant, 2nd Infantry Division. You can read about Donald here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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