MVAC SPOTLIGHT: A LOOK BACK
U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims Judge Honored One of only 12 African American Lawyers out of 1,500 Army Judge Advocate Generals at the time of appointment, among other achievements
By Herman H. Jones
W illiam P. Greene, Jr., who retired in November 2010 after serving as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, was honored on September 27, 2011, with the unveiling of his official portrait in Washington, D.C. The portrait was accepted on behalf of the Court by Judge Greene’s successor, Chief Judge Bruce E. Kasold, to be perma- nently displayed at the Court. The portrait, commis- sioned by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims Bar Association, was painted by internationally renowned artist Lindy Bruggink, whose other subjects have in- cluded numerous federal judges and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. The unveiling took place in the Ceremonial Courtroom of the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building, a large venue chosen in order to have room for the many friends and colleagues who wished to honor Greene. Among the speakers was the Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States, Major General William K. Suter, USA (Ret.), who has known Greene for over forty years during their service together in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG). Before his appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Judge Greene graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University) in 1965 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant through the College’s Army ROTC program. Shortly thereafter, he attended Howard University School of Law and earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1968. Brother Greene was initiated in the Tau of Kappa Alpha Psi ® at West Virginia State College in 1965. Judge Greene was born in Bluefield, West Virginia, a small coal town in the Appalachian mountains. Following the at- tack on Pearl Harbor, his father was drafted into the Army and later commissioned as an Army Officer and served with the fame “Buffalo Soldiers”, the only African American unit to see combat in Europe. He also served in the Korean Conflict and in the Vietnam War. Judge Greene’s affinity and pride for the Buffalo Soldiers became a life-long passion, as demonstrated by his own dedicated military service and his involvement in the construction and dedication of the Buffalo Soldier Monument at Fort Leavenworth, KS. In the portrait that was unveiled, one of Judge Greene’s many Buf-
falo Soldier paintings can be seen in the background. Brother Greene began his JAG career as a prosecutor at Fort Knox, Kentucky and then as Chief defense counsel in the Army Command in Hawaii. His broad experience from these positions gained him a highly regarded reputation as a successful criminal trial lawyer. As Greene explained in an article by Jeffrey C. Good in the September 2007 edition of “The Federal Lawyer” magazine, “drug use and racial ten- sions in Vietnam had resulted in “the perception, if not the reality . . . that a disproportionate number of minority solders were being court-martialed.” Cases were transferred to Ha- waii for trial and Greene’s appointment came at a time when only twelve of 1,500 Army JAGs were African American. The availability of an African American lawyer to represent these soldiers helped to quell some of the sense of outrage felt by inority troops. Greene told Good that he tried more than 1,000 cases in his three-year Hawaiian tour. In 1993, another opportunity presented itself. Greene was nominated and appointed by the Attorney General of the United States as a United States Immigration Judge with the
32 | THE JOURNAL
Publishing achievement for 105 years
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online