Specialist Frederick Greene was a **29-year-old male**, an Army specialist assigned to the 16th Signal Company at Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas. He was originally from Mountain City, Tennessee, where he lived with his wife and two small children. He joined the U.S. Army in May 2008 after graduating from Johnson County High School and working at a truss company in Tennessee.
As a **29-year-old male**, he held the rank of Specialist and served as a combat engineer in the 510th Engineering Company, part of the 20th Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, at Fort Hood. As a **29-year-old male**, he was remembered by friends and family as quiet, very intelligent, deeply religious, having sung in his church choir, and possessing a passion for reading and certain hobbies.
On November 5 2009, at approximately 1:34 p.m., **29-year-old male Specialist Frederick Greene** was present in the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood, where soldiers received routine medical screening prior to deployment. At that moment, **a male Army Major and psychiatrist, Nidal Hasan**, armed with a FN Five-Seven pistol fitted with laser sights, entered the center, bowed briefly, then opened fire. The weapons Hasan carried included the FN Five-Seven and a Smith & Wesson. 357 Magnum revolver, though only the pistol was used in the rampage.
During the attack, **29-year-old male Specialist Frederick Greene** reportedly reacted heroically. Medical examination revealed he suffered a dozen gunshot wounds; the nature and distribution of these wounds were consistent with someone charging toward the attacker in an attempt to stop him. This attempt suggests that as a **29-year-old male**, Greene sprinted toward the gunman, armed only with perhaps a small object or nothing, seeking to intervene and protect his fellow soldiers.
The rampage claimed the lives of thirteen people, including **29-year-old male Specialist Frederick Greene**, twelve military personnel, and one civilian. More than thirty individuals were wounded. **29-year-old male Specialist Frederick Greene** was among those killed.
In the aftermath, **29-year-old male Specialist Frederick Greene** was honored posthumously. Initially, the attack had not been considered an act of war or terrorism, and the deaths were not regarded as occurring in the line of duty, complicating eligibility for military honors. However, years later, legislation changed to allow victims of terrorism-inspired attacks to receive honors such as the Purple Heart. As a result, **29-year-old male Specialist Frederick Greene** was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, as well as the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, and qualification as expert marksman. His Purple Heart was presented in a special ceremony to his mother in 2015, after previously being presented to his widow at Fort Hood.
Elsewhere, to commemorate his sacrifice, **29-year-old male Specialist Frederick Greene** has been memorialized locally. In Tennessee, a bridge spanning Goose Creek on State Route 67 in Mountain City was designated the “Spc. Frederick Greene Memorial Bridge.” He was interred at Bakers Gap Cemetery in Butler, Tennessee.
