On Alaskan tour
Startling weather changes seen
A 70-degree change In weather within one week will never be seen at Ft Monmouth but Capt Billy V Greer brought back this memorable incident from Alaska when he was assigned recently to the Operations Division of the Army Signal Radio Propagation Agency.
Capt Greer during his last tour of duty which was at Ft Richardson Alaska saw the temperature hit 30-degrees below zero on Christmas Day 1961 and one
week later on New Year’s Day reach 45 degrees above zero.
Of his entire Army career the Captain lists the Alaskan tour as most memorable “because of the extremely cold weather which I do not particularly care for."
Entered Service In 1945
Capt Greer was born raised and schooled in Johnson City and saw his first military service in June 1945 as an enlisted man.
After completing his basic trainbg at Ft McClellan Alabama he attended airborne training at Ft Benning Ga.
In 1946 he joined the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Germany and in the same year was reassigned to Ft Bragg N C where he served with the 82nd Airborne. |
In 1951 he was transferred to the 18th Airborne Corps Artillery. It was in 1953 that he received his reserve commission.
Korea was next on his agenda and after an 18-month tour with the 2nd Engineering Group the then master sergeant returned once again to Ft Benning/
In 1956 he returned to Korea, this time as 1st Sergeant with the 24th Infantry Division,3rd Engineering Battalion
Serves In Japan
A year later Greer was called to active duty and was assigned to the Signal Overseas Communication Battalion in Japan
In November 1958 he returned to the United States and school at the Basic Officer’s Course Ft Monmouth.
Upon completion of the course the captain was assigned to Ft Huachuca Ariz. where he served as Assistant S3 of the 16th Signal Battalion.
Mid-summer of 1960 found Greer on his way to Alaska. His first assignment was as platoon leader of a telephone installation platoon, then with a high-frequency radio platoon and before returning here he was company commander of a signal company USARAL
[Johnson City Press (Johnson City, TN, 15 Sep 1963, Sun • Page 29]
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[courtesy of "Carol"]
Grave marker for Billy V. Greer in Section H, Site CA127,
San Francisco National Cemetery, San Francisco (San Francisco county),
California.He began active service on 26
June1945. Then an enlisted man, Billy joined the 508th Parachute
Infantry Regiment in Germany in 1946. He also saw service in
Vietnam and Korea.
He re-enlisted on 17 November 1956 and later eared a
commission. He retired as a major on 31 July 1970 after 25 years
of service. |