Veterans Day is a time of honoring those who have served. It’s an especially big deal for one Plant City family, as more than 30 of its members have enlisted over the years.
Janie Green helped host the Green Family Reunion in September and decided to use the gathering to honor those in her family who had joined the armed forces. For her, honoring veterans took on a whole new meaning after her son joined the Marines.
“You hear stuff all your life but until my son went in there, that’s when I really appreciated everything they’ve done,” Janie Green said. “When my child came home he was in the bathroom shaving and I passed by the door and saw something across his chest. I asked what it was and he said, “Oh Mamma, I didn’t want you to see that. I got hurt over there, Mamma.”
Her son, Sgt. Persell Green, went on to Afghanistan where he was awarded a medal honoring his bravery. In order to protect his men, he went alone and worked 18 hours surrounded by gunfire to secure the area. He went in a tank alone for two miles and when he radioed his men they told him the “enemy was on him.”
“They shot a missile at my child,” Janie Green said. “He says he saw it when it exploded and there was no light like that. When he got back to the states, to California, they had a ceremony. He didn’t think he was going to get anything and then they called Sgt. Green and gave him a medal of honor. He doesn’t talk about it much. He just says he had to protect his men.”
Janie Green said that dedication to this country is held by her entire family. She said many of those who served in her family did so because they felt a need to prove that this was their country and to show they were a part of it. She said they care about the U.S. and protecting everyone in it.
Nearly 300 people showed up to St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church for the reunion and dozens were given certificates in honor of their service. They brought pictures and were given magnets telling them God was watching over them.
The theme for the event was “Blood Counts Most” and the entire day was run by the family, from the service to the choir. Honored were veterans from World War II and the Korean War to those enlisted in current engagements in Afghanistan.
“Blood does count the most,” Janie Green said. “People don’t realize that. Blood counts the most. When things get tough who are you looking at? Your family … when I think about how much I could’ve lost my child it gets to me. But I look at my family and I have nothing but pride.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Green had received the Medal of Honor. Green received a medal honoring service.