Edward Greiner Jr. / Army sergeant about to deploy to Afghanistan
By Torsten Ove / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Army Staff Sgt. Edward Greiner Jr. of Ross, a
paratrooper and combat engineer with the 82nd Airborne Division who
served 18-month tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and was about to deploy
again, died Tuesday in a motorcycle crash near his base in North
Carolina.
He was 32 and loved the Army.
"He was going to put in his 20 years. He was the kind of guy the Army
would have to kick out," said a friend, Matthew Bizub, 29, of Richland,
who served with the Air National Guard in Iraq in 2006 and 2007.
Sgt. Greiner died at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center
shortly after the 1 p.m. crash in Fayetteville, N.C., near Fort Bragg,
home of the 82nd Airborne. Police said a pickup truck made a left turn
in front of Sgt. Greiner's Harley-Davidson, and he crashed his bike into
it.
The 63-year-old pickup driver was charged with death
by vehicle, a misdemeanor.
Sgt. Greiner, who worked at the Army Recruiting
Station in Ross, had returned to Fort Bragg last Friday and was
scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan at the end of this month.
Mr. Bizub said he had taken early leave from the
recruiting job to go back to Afghanistan, where his job would be to
disarm and destroy roadside bombs as he did in his previous tours.
"He said it was his job and he wanted to go," said Mr.
Bizub, who grew up with Sgt. Greiner in West Deer and kept in touch
through the years. "That was his mentality. He did it for his country."
Sgt. Greiner graduated from Deer Lakes High School in
1998. He earned a graphic arts degree at Pittsburgh Technical Institute
and then joined the Army and became a paratrooper. |
He served his first tour in Afghanistan in 2005-06 and his
second in Iraq in 2006-07. When he came home from Iraq on leave in 2007,
he enthralled a class of second-graders at Mc-Knight Elementary School
in McCandless by showing up to thank one boy, Tyler Kautzman, for his
generosity. Instead of gifts at his birthday party, Tyler had asked the
kids to bring cookies, candy and other items for soldiers overseas.
The children ended up donating some 400 pounds of
Iraq-bound goodies.
In return, Sgt. Greiner presented Tyler with the Army
Achievement Medal that he had earned for helping to put out a fire at
the 82nd Airborne base in Iraq.
"I got your football; me and my buddies play with it
all the time. The cookies, candies and treats we got, we're getting
cavities from all of it," he told Tyler and 120 other delighted
second-graders that day. "Like we say, Tyler, you went above and beyond.
Thanks."
Sgt. Greiner flew back to Baghdad that day.
After his term in Iraq, he came home to Fort Bragg and
volunteered for recruiting duty back home so he could take care of his
grandmother in Ross. He lived at her house and cared for her while
working the last four years at the recruiting center on McKnight Road.
Mr. Bizub said his friend planned to become an Army
drill instructor.
"He wanted to serve his country," he said. "He was a good guy. He was
outgoing and embraced life."
Sgt. Greiner is survived by his parents, Edward Greiner of West Deer and
Maggi Aebi of Allison Park, and his sister, Molly Morenci of Fort Irwin,
Calif.
Funeral arrangements were incomplete Thursday.
Torsten Ove: tove@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1510.
First Published March 9, 2012 12:00 am
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