At the rank of major general, Greene was the highest-ranking American service member killed by hostile action since Lieutenant General Timothy Maude was killed in the September 11 attack on the Pentagon, and the highest-ranking service member killed on foreign soil during a war since Rear Admiral Rembrandt C. Robinson was killed during the Vietnam War in May 1972. To date, Greene is also the highest-ranking American officer to be killed in combat in the ongoing Global War on Terrorism.