Monroe soldier killed in Iraq - 10/10/2005
Army Pfc. Nicholas J. Greer was shot near Syrian border
By RAY KISONAS
A Monroe soldier who enlisted to fight terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was shot and killed in Iraq while on patrol near the Syrian border.
U.S. Army Pfc. Nicholas J. Greer, 21, who was born and raised in Monroe, had been in Iraq only about two weeks. He was wearing full body armor when his platoon came under fire in a riverbed. Pfc. Greer was struck in the neck by gunshot.
His mother, Kelly Greer, said her son was killed 5:30 a.m. local time Saturday.
“I am proud of him so much,” Mrs. Greer said this morning. “He was so well liked. Everybody loved him. He never had any anger inside of him.”
Pfc. Greer has become the sixth soldier with Monroe connections to die in the war in Iraq. Funeral services are pending, and Mrs. Greer said she is expecting her son’s body to arrive here either tonight or Tuesday.
A computer expert who was planning to pursue a career in that field after his tour of duty, Pfc. Greer enlisted last September and left for boot camp two months later.
“He said, ‘Mom, I want to fight terrorism,’ ” Mrs. Greer said. “I begged him not to go. I didn’t want him to go during war. But he wanted to go after 9-11.”
He graduated from boot camp in Fort Benning, Ga., as first platoon leader March 17. He was one of four graduates out of 146 to be picked for airborne school, his mother said. He completed training at Fort Bragg, N.C., and was a member of the 82nd Airborne.
His job included the tasks of sniper marksman and helicopter search and rescue. Prior to his tour in Iraq, Pfc. Greer was stationed in Afghanistan.
“He was so good at what he did,” Mrs. Greer said.
Pfc. Greer was 2 when he gave his mother hints that the military was going to be in his future. During a trip to Willow Run Airport, the toddler looked at a plane and had a premonition.
“He said, ‘I’m going to jump out of those one day,’ ” Mrs. Greer recalled. “And he actually did it.”
As a boy, Pfc. Greer sharpened his marksmanship skills with paintball. His mother remembered him playing paintball as a young teenager in the woods near Heiss Rd. Pfc. Greer attended Trinity Lutheran School and Monroe High School. He earned a General Educational Development degree before enlisting.
In addition to his mother, Pfc. Greer is survived by his stepfather, Donald Greer, who helped raise Pfc. Greer from the age 2. The soldier died on his stepfather’s birthday. He also had a brother, Naythen, 16, and a sister, Nicole, 27, and grandparents, Retha and Richard Sortor.
“He was a very good boy,” Mrs. Sortor said this morning. “He was a very caring person.”
Mrs. Greer said she spoke to her son prior to the mission, and he told her it was going to be dangerous. She said he spoke of insurgents coming into Iraq from Syria.
“He told me he wanted to tell me he loved me in case he couldn’t tell me anymore,” Mrs. Greer said. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
He is the sixth soldier with Monroe County connections to die in the war. The others include Marine Pfc. Juan Garza of Temperance; Army Pfc. Dennis J. Miller Jr. of LaSalle; Army Capt. Lowell T. Miller II, who had just moved to Monroe from the Flint area; Marine Lance Cpl. Allan Klein, whose father lives in Frenchtown Township, and Army Master Sgt. William L. Payne, who was a Monroe native.
Mrs. Greer said her son’s best friend, Shaun Voggenreiter, who also is stationed in Iraq, will accompany the body home. In the meantime, Mrs. Greer will make funeral arrangements.
“I’m lost,” she said. “I’m so lost.”
Monroe soldier killed in Iraq - 10/10/2005
Army Pfc. Nicholas J. Greer was shot near Syrian border
By RAY KISONAS
A Monroe soldier who enlisted to fight terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was shot and killed in Iraq while on patrol near the Syrian border.
U.S. Army Pfc. Nicholas J. Greer, 21, who was born and raised in Monroe, had been in Iraq only about two weeks. He was wearing full body armor when his platoon came under fire in a riverbed. Pfc. Greer was struck in the neck by gunshot.
His mother, Kelly Greer, said her son was killed 5:30 a.m. local time Saturday.
“I am proud of him so much,” Mrs. Greer said this morning. “He was so well liked. Everybody loved him. He never had any anger inside of him.”
Pfc. Greer has become the sixth soldier with Monroe connections to die in the war in Iraq. Funeral services are pending, and Mrs. Greer said she is expecting her son’s body to arrive here either tonight or Tuesday.
A computer expert who was planning to pursue a career in that field after his tour of duty, Pfc. Greer enlisted last September and left for boot camp two months later.
“He said, ‘Mom, I want to fight terrorism,’ ” Mrs. Greer said. “I begged him not to go. I didn’t want him to go during war. But he wanted to go after 9-11.”
He graduated from boot camp in Fort Benning, Ga., as first platoon leader March 17. He was one of four graduates out of 146 to be picked for airborne school, his mother said. He completed training at Fort Bragg, N.C., and was a member of the 82nd Airborne.
His job included the tasks of sniper marksman and helicopter search and rescue. Prior to his tour in Iraq, Pfc. Greer was stationed in Afghanistan.
“He was so good at what he did,” Mrs. Greer said.
Pfc. Greer was 2 when he gave his mother hints that the military was going to be in his future. During a trip to Willow Run Airport, the toddler looked at a plane and had a premonition.
“He said, ‘I’m going to jump out of those one day,’ ” Mrs. Greer recalled. “And he actually did it.”
As a boy, Pfc. Greer sharpened his marksmanship skills with paintball. His mother remembered him playing paintball as a young teenager in the woods near Heiss Rd. Pfc. Greer attended Trinity Lutheran School and Monroe High School. He earned a General Educational Development degree before enlisting.
In addition to his mother, Pfc. Greer is survived by his stepfather, Donald Greer, who helped raise Pfc. Greer from the age 2. The soldier died on his stepfather’s birthday. He also had a brother, Naythen, 16, and a sister, Nicole, 27, and grandparents, Retha and Richard Sortor.
“He was a very good boy,” Mrs. Sortor said this morning. “He was a very caring person.”
Mrs. Greer said she spoke to her son prior to the mission, and he told her it was going to be dangerous. She said he spoke of insurgents coming into Iraq from Syria.
“He told me he wanted to tell me he loved me in case he couldn’t tell me anymore,” Mrs. Greer said. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
He is the sixth soldier with Monroe County connections to die in the war. The others include Marine Pfc. Juan Garza of Temperance; Army Pfc. Dennis J. Miller Jr. of LaSalle; Army Capt. Lowell T. Miller II, who had just moved to Monroe from the Flint area; Marine Lance Cpl. Allan Klein, whose father lives in Frenchtown Township, and Army Master Sgt. William L. Payne, who was a Monroe native.
Mrs. Greer said her son’s best friend, Shaun Voggenreiter, who also is stationed in Iraq, will accompany the body home. In the meantime, Mrs. Greer will make funeral arrangements.
“I’m lost,” she said. “I’m so lost.”
