The name of TFC Walter Greene, Jr., who died last year of cancer that his doctors believe was a result of the time he spent at Ground Zero after 9/11, was added to the memorial to fallen officers in Meriden on Thursday.
“He would always say 'I’m coming home,'” Suzanne Greene, wife of fallen Connecticut State Trooper First Class Walter Greene Jr., recalled.
From the Marine Corps to the State Police, TFC Greene kept his promise to his high school sweetheart and wife of 33 years.
“He was very loved. He would do anything for anyone and that’s just who he was,” said Suzanne.
In May 2018, the Norwalk native lost his two-year battle with cancer, which doctors believe was a result of the time he spent working at Ground Zero after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
“He helped bringing family members. He helped look for people and then he also escorted the trucks that were carrying the stuff back and forth,” Suzanne explained.
“He’s the greatest guy in the world. He’s my hero,” said his father, Ted Greene, who attended the police officers memorial service at the Connecticut State Police Academy on Thursday. “He’s the type of person, if he had to do all of this he would do it again.”
Greene was only 49 years old when he got the diagnosis. Suzanne said the cancer started in his colon and quickly spread to his liver and lungs before taking his life.
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“He always said to the end that he was gonna beat it,” she remembered.
That was a promise he couldn’t keep.
On Thursday, Greene’s name was added to the Connecticut Police Memorial and read out loud during a moving tribute to the state’s men and women in blue who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
“The way he died was not who he was, the way he lived was,” said Suzanne.
“What’s even more important in my eyes is never forgetting. These are brothers and sisters who have given the ultimate sacrifice for this state,” added Chief James Cetran, president of the CT Police Chiefs Association and Chief of Police in Wethersfield.
Nearly a year after losing her husband, Suzanne takes comfort in knowing his sacrifices won’t be forgotten.
“His life did mean something and his legacy goes on,” she said tearfully.
Greene is now the 144th Connecticut police officer added to the memorial at the police academy. The state began honoring its fallen in 1989 and was one of the first in the nation to do so.
