Lou Elwin Green was born on October 2, 1918, to parents, James Willard and Betsy Jane (Meservy) Green in St. Anthony, Idaho. When he was six months old he and his family moved to Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Lou’s father died in 1928 just as the Great Depression was taking place. Lou was sent to live with an uncle at Dietrich, Idaho where he stayed for two and a half years. From that time on, he stayed wherever he could, working for his room and board and finishing his schooling in the eighth grade. At age 15, he started driving a log truck. Jobs were hard to get and pay was low. He drove in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.
On April 10, 1942, he was drafted into the Army. He was in the service for 42 months serving overseas in the African-European Theater for 39 months. He was in the invasion of Oran, Salerno, Corsica, Southern France and the Po Valley. When Germany surrendered, he was in Northern Italy. His outfit was sent to a Naples staging area where they awaited orders for the invasion of Japan but the dropping of the Bomb stopped that.