One of the 13 who died in the Fort Hood shooting Thursday was a 29-year-old father of two who was raised by his grandparents in the East Tennessee town of Mountain City.
U.S. Army Spc. Frederick Greene, who lived with his wife and two children in Mountain City, was assigned to the 16th Signal Company at Fort Hood, Texas. On Thursday, Greene was in the line of fire when a disgruntled U.S. Army psychiatrist, opened fire on fellow solders. Greene’s family and friends that the fallen soldier, who attended Johnson County High School, was a quiet and very intelligent young man who sang in the choir at Baker’s Gap Baptist Church during his early years, and who knew the Bible like the back of his hand.
Specialist Fred Zebulen Greene, age 29, of Mountain City, who was currently stationed at Fort Hood Army Base, Texas, lost his life tragically on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, from injuries sustained at the U.S. Army base in Fort Hood, Texas. Fred was a member of Bakers Gap Baptist Church. He enjoyed reading and playing Dungeons and Dragons video games. Fred had earned the rank of Specialist E-4 while in the United States Army. His Military Occupational Specialty was a Combat Engineer. He was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Floyd and Phyllis Stanton, Heaton; and one brother, Seth Dean Greene.
Survivors include his wonderful and loving wife, Cristie Wilson Greene; two beautiful daughters, Haley and Allison Greene; his brother, Shane Greene, of Mountain City; his parents, Robert and Karen Heaton Nourse; and his cousin, Jessie Ray Heaton, who was like a brother to him, all of Johnson City; his paternal grandparents, Howard and Judy Nourse, Grand Rapids, Mich; four aunts, Daphne Greene and husband, Arthur, Kathy Heaton, Samantha Heaton and her partner, Dr. Mary Ellen Cox, all of Johnson City; Gail Hamby and husband, Oscar, of Kenton, Ohio; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Harold and Edith Wilson of Mountain City; and all of his military comrades.
–from the Elizabethon Star Online, 15 November 2009
Spc.Frederick Zebulen Greene graduated from Johnson County High School and was a former employee at A.C. Truss plant in Mountain City. He joined the US Army in May 2008. He had been awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Medal and was qualified as expert on the M-4.
He was a member of the 510th Engineering Company, 20th Battalion, 36th Brigade based at Fort Hood.
He is buried at Bakers Gap Cemetery, Butler, Johnson County, TN.
On April 19, 2013, the Tennessee State Legislature passed Public Chapter No. 482. In the text of the legislation the bridge spanning Goose Creek on State Route 67 in Mountain City, Tennessee, located west of such route’s intersection with U.S. Highway 421 was designated the “Spc. Frederick Green Memorial Bridge” to honor the memory of a remarkable young man who lost his life in the tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas, on November 5, 2009.
- Rank: Specialist E-4
- Date of birth: 7 June 1980
- Date of death: 5 November 2009
- County: Johnson
- Hometown: Mountain City
- Service Branch: Army
- Division/Assignment: 16th Signal Company, Fort Hood, Texas
- Conflict: Afghanistan
- Awards: Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and Army Service Medal
- Burial/Memorial Location: Bakers Gap Cemetery, Butler, Johnson County, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XXV, Top Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Frederick Z. Greene
