Richard Cortis Green

Richard Cortis GREEN 1914 ~ 2009 Richard Cortis ("Cort") Green, Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Coast Guard, Retired, died on September 18, 2009 in Olympia, Washington. He was born on August 25, 1914 in San Diego, CA to Jerome Joseph Green and Mabel (nee Cortis) Green.He spent most of his childhood, however, living with his English stepfather in Bromley, Kent, and felt strong ties to British culture for the rest of his life. He returned to the U.S.A. in the late 1920s, and attended Reed College in Portland, OR, graduating with a degree in Biology in 1935. He enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in 1937, and served for several years on the International Ice Patroloff the coast of Greenland. This experience was the subject of his book, Ice Patrol. On the outbreak of World War II, he received a reserve officer's commission, and served primarily on troop and supply convoy escort duty on the North Atlantic. Of particular note was his service aboard the USCG Cutter Campbell, which rammed and sank aU-boat during a particularly bloody battle with the German wolf packs. In June 1944, he married Helen Marie Chelland (1916-2004) in Lexington, Massachusetts. At war's end, he reverted to his enlisted rank, but eventuallyearned an officer's commission in the peacetime Coast Guard in 1947. His subsequent service included commanding a radar signal station on a remote atoll in the South Pacific, and inspecting merchant ships for compliance with safety regulations in several Southern U.S. ports and in Alaska. His last duty assignment was as Executive Officer of the USCG Cutter Gresham based in Alameda, California. After retiring from the Coast Guard in 1961, he worked briefly for the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in Livermore, California, but then decided to work at what he really loved, selling camping goods for the Smilie Company in San Francisco, and subsequently for Eddie Bauer in Seattle, Washington. He belonged to the Sierra Club, and was an avid backpacker and environmentalist. His last years were spent enjoying his hobbies of hiking, photographing wild flowers, and watching the ships go by in Puget Sound. He remained kind-hearted, humorous, open to new experiences, and good natured through his final days. He is survived by his children, Judith Metcalf and Jonathan Green; and his grandchildren, Thomas Metcalf, Miranda Metcalf, Victoria Green and Dylan Green.