Greg Washburn

## Background

Born in Texas, Greg Washburn enrolled in the army and was stationed in several places, namely in the Middle East during the Iraq War where he met Jeremiah Woods. During his first station right out of boot camp in Operation Desert Storm, Greg's squadron lost three members in an attack. It was right after this that Greg experienced his own "paranormal" situation.

Greg, during a chat with Silas Caldwell and Jeremiah, recounts his story and says that he and his other squad members all felt the absence of those three fallen soldiers, and things were quiet around the platoon for a while. Then, one night, Greg left his tent and wandered about in the desert at their camp while stricken with grief. As he was trying to deal with his emotions, he suddenly heard a small voice behind him. He wondered at first if it was God speaking to him, but he was suddenly inflicted with the worst feeling of loss he'd ever felt. The voice wasn't exactly speaking to him, rather it was showing him mental images of people, fathers, wives, sons, daughters. He somehow knew who they were without knowing their names. Each one he saw had a feeling attached to them, but Greg couldn't quite make sense of it. He saw a lady he knew to be his lover who was anguished over never seeing him again. He saw a gruff man he knew to be his father, and when the man frowned at him he felt shame and wrath inside of him. Greg has difficulty putting the experience into proper words. When it did stop, the sun was already coming up and he felt like he could finally breathe. He didn't talk about it with anyone--not even his squadmates--until he got back home and went to visit a shrink. Still, he couldn't get the experience out of his mind and he decided to begin contacting the family members of the three soldiers who were killed. As he met each one, he realized that he knew them all. He realized that his experience in the desert was seeing the family members and loved ones of each fallen soldier through their eyes. However, each visit seemed to ease the suffering Greg was feeling. In between being sent off to another war and other deployments, he continued to visit the loved ones he saw even if they didn't always react positively to his being there as a fellow squad member of the fallen soldier. Greg worries that perhaps he was only helping himself and making things worse for the people he met, but he honestly has no answer or explanation for the entire experience. Jeremiah Woods corroborates the story, stating that he attended these meetups with Greg sometimes, and he notes that it seemed like the ghosts were whispering what to say to Greg each time.

## Role

Greg acted as the Security Team Lead for Breacher Team Alpha from the beginning until the end of Season 2. He also gave directions to Fred, Johnny, and Elora, three other Security Team members.

## Personality

Greg is often described as a "Papa Bear" type of man. While appearing gruff at first, he's someone who tries to keep the Breacher Team upright and safe, and he's known to crack a joke when he can to lighten the mood. He is somewhat reserved, given his time in the military and masculine tendency to keep emotions under wraps. However, he comes to value each of the Breacher Team members as something akin to family. In particular, he has a fondness for June Dawson and treats Alyx Yard like a daughter. He is the type of guy who likes to crack open a beer and shoot the shit with others, particularly with Jeremiah, Silas, and Cassius.

## Quotes

* "Just got here and already interrogatin' the poor boy. 'Least you give 'em more of an introduction than I got. Hey there, Silas Caldwell was it? Put 'er there, son! We'll have to work on that grip of yours, sport! The name's Greg Washburn -- I'll be haulin' y'all's sorry asses around."
* "Let's roll, people. Sucks, but Cassius is in charge of directions. I'll get this squad squared away -- Fred, help Alyx pick up and catch up pronto. Johnny-boy, go find our wandering kid and keep tabs between us."
* "Yeah, I remember my first major hike way back in good ol’ Fort Benning while I was in Basic. I was seein’ stars for sure! Might’ve been exhaustion, dehydration... or I might’ve inhaled too much after kicking over a mushroom patch early on the trail!"
* "Nobody here but us cowboys!"

## Trivia

* Greg did his army basic training at Fort Benning.
* Greg was Jeremiah Woods' First Sergeant in the Iraq War.