Memorials › PFC Lawrence N. Green

PFC Lawrence N. Green

26 Jan 1918 – 26 Feb 1945

Birth26 Jan 1918
Death26 Feb 1945
CemeteryManila American Cemetery and Memorial
Manila , Capital District , National Capital Region , Philippines
Added bysteve s on 10 Jun 2021
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56749143

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Entered the service from Texas.

Bio

Lawrence N. Green (1920 Texas), a resident of Wood County, Texas, enlisted as a Private (S/N 6951300) in the U.S. Army Infantry on 02 November 1939 at Dallas, Texas. He was single, had completed 2 years of high school and was working as a farm hand. Lawrence N. Green (20 Texas) is found in the 1940 United States Federal Census (1940) for Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas (sheet 84B, line 70, Infantry Port Road). He had lived in Hawkins, Wood County, Texas in 1935. Lawrence had completed 2 years of high school. He was a soldier in "B" Company, 23rd Infantry, U.S. Army. Lawrence married Frances Augusta Wishart (1917 - 1988) at some point and they had a son, Lawrence N. Green Jr. (born 12 May 1943 Robeson, North Carolina). Mrs. Frances A Green Rt. #3, Box 92 Lumberton, North Carolina Private Green eventually became a paratrooper. He received his training at Fort Benning, Georgia and Fort Bragg. Lawrence was assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry, U.S. Army and sent to the South Pacific where he saw action on New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies. February 1945 – Corregidor, Philippines On 16 February 1945, the 503rd Regimental Combat Team jumped on Corregidor ("the Rock") to liberate the island from occupying Japanese forces. The First Battalion, commanded by Major Robert Woods, did not parachute onto the island, but instead were inserted by ship on the second day of the battle, 17 February. Col. George M. Jones, commanding officer of the regimental combat team, had made the determination after the first day that due to high casualties from the initial drop, and because the beachhead was secure, the next units would make an amphibious landing. And yet, Templeman wrote: "The Battalion on landing found itself under rifle and machine gun fire, but quickly moved up the hill and joined the balance of the Regiment on 'Topside.' Source: https://publichistorian.com/2019/05/27/memorial-day-tribute-to-richard-w-dews-a-paratrooper/ By the morning of February 26, the men of the 1st Battalion, of 503rd paratroopers had reached the tail of the tadpole at Monkey Point and were "mopping up." Already General MacArthur was making plans for his return to Corregidor. Just northeast was a little ridge and under it was an underground network of tunnels which had housed the Navy's Radio Intercept Station. At 11:05 a.m one of the tanks fired into the sloping entrance of the Monkey Point tunnel. Simultaneously, a violent explosion lifted the top off the ridge over the Radio Intercept Station, causing significant casualties on both sides. "Reports that tank fired into one of the cave pill boxes and a big explosion followed by three or four smaller ones tore up high ground around Monkey Pt and occupied by our troops assaulting position. The blast tore apart a Sherman tank and big rocks filled sky which in falling caused many deaths & injuries. Med aid rushed from Mariveles by cub. The total casualties are 156. "Shortly after 1100 on 26 February the Japanese on Corregidor executed their final, suicidal tour de force, blowing an underground arsenal at Monkey Point amid scenes of carnage on both sides. As the dust from terrific explosions settled, a hollow appeared where a small knoll had previously stood. Debris had flown as far as Topside where one man, almost a mile from the explosion, was injured by flying rock. Other debris hit a destroyer 2,000 yards offshore. A medium tank was hurled 50 yards through the air, most of its crew killed. Bits and pieces of American and Japanese troops splattered the ground; rock slides buried alive other men of both forces. Over 200 Japanese were killed outright, while Rock Force lost some 50 men killed and 150 wounded. Medics took an hour and a half to clear the casualties from the area, and at the end of that time one medical officer, an eyewitness to the horrors, could only report: As soon as I got all the casualties off, I sat down on a rock and burst out crying. I couldn't stop myself and didn't even want to. I had seen more than a man could stand and still stay normal. . . . When I had the cases to care for, that kept me going; but after that it was too much." Source: U.S. Army in WWII - Triumph in the Philippines by Robert Ross Smith (Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C., 1993), page 348. Private First Class Lawrence N. Green of Company C, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment was one of the men killed. In all 52 men were killed and another 144 injured. He had been overseas for 30 months. His body was brought over to Mariveles, Bataan and he was buried in the U.S.A.F Cemetery #1, Mariveles by the 101st Quartermaster Graves Registration Company. In all 159 men from the 503rd were buried there. After the war his remains were brought to 7747 USAF Cemetery, Manila #2, Philippine Islands – Block 2, Row 11, Grave 1341 (D-D 6197). The deceased in Manila #2 (over 11,000 American soldiers) rested there until their removal to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum in the summer of 1948. From there, according to the wishes of his next of kin (wife, Mrs. Frances A. Green), Private First Class Lawrence N. Green was buried in his final resting place in the 7701 Ft. McKinley Cemetery (now known as the Manila American Cemetery) – Plot D, Row 10, Grave 214. His widow, Frances Augusta Wishart Green, remarried to Leon Britt on 22 January 1948 in Bennettsville, Marlboro County, South Carolina.

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