Robert LaMoyne Green – Colonel, United States Army

From a contemporary press report

Robert LaMoyne Green, 82, a retired Post Office official who in the 1960s was part of a team that created the Zip code system to speed the sorting and delivery of mail, died of a stroke December 24, 1998 at Inova Alexandria Hospital, Virginia.

Mr. Green had been a postal inspector in Wisconsin and Georgia when in 1958 he joined postal headquarters in Washington as a senior experton  schemes and routing.

In that capacity, he worked with others under then-Postmaster General J. Edward Day to devise the Zoning Improvement Program, which was introduced in 1963 as a response to the increasing volume of personal and business correspondence.

Mr. Green, who frequently wrote technical articles on mail distribution, retired in the mid-1970s after years as director of the Postal Service distribution and procedures branch. He also taught at the Postal Service Management Institute.

He was born in Bellaire, Ohio, the son of a general store owner who also operated a post office.

As a young man, Mr. Green worked for the Postal Transportation Service, then served in the Army during World War II.

Given his background, Mr. Green, who later attained the rank of major, was assigned to the 5th Army and helped establish post offices in North Africa and the Mediterranean.

He received numerous Army Commendation Medals.

After the war, he returned to the Post Office and entered the Army Reserve. He retired from the reserve in 1981 with the rank of colonel.

He attended Ohio State University and Case Western Reserve University and graduated from Florida Southern College.

Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Elizabeth Barksdale Green of Springfield; two children, Allen Green of McLean and Marion Green LeBer of Atlanta; and four grandchildren.

GREEN, ROBERT LaMOYNE, COL, USAR (Ret.)

On December 24, 1998, survived by his wife of 52 years, Elizabeth Barksdale Green of Springfield, VA; two children, Allen Green of McLean and Marion Green LeBer of Atlanta; and four grandchildren. A service will be held on Monday, January 11, at 11 a.m. in the Ft. Myer Old Post Chapel. Interment to follow in Arlington National Cemetery.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard