Green Wing was the call sign of a male member of Green Squadron, a Rebel Alliance RZ-1 A-wing interceptor unit that fought during the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY. During the Alliance Fleet's engagement with the Imperial Navy above the Forest Moon of Endor, Green Wing flew into combat alongside Gold Leader General Lando Calrissian, Red Leader Commander Wedge Antilles, and Blue Leader Colonel Merrick Simms in an attack on the Empire's main communications ship, which had been completely jamming the Rebel Fleet.
As the four pilots moved in on the Star Destroyer, Green Wing's starfighter was hit by enemy fire, and he crashed into the communications ship's forward batteries. This sacrifice enabled Calrissian and Antilles to destroy the warship though Simms was killed as well and stop the Imperials' jamming of the Rebel flotilla. The Alliance forces would go on to destroy the second Death Star and win the battle, despite many casualties.
Arvel Crynyd, commander of Green Squadron
Though the designation "Green Wing" could be used to refer to Green Squadron, the Rebel Alliance RZ-1 A-wing interceptor squadron. as a whole, it was given as a comm-net designation to a male pilot serving as the second-in-command of Green Squadron under Green Leader Arvel Crynyd in 4 ABY.
When Bothan spies brought the knowledge of a second Death Star in the Endor system to Alliance High Command, Alliance Chief of State Mon Mothma announced her decision to attack the Death Star during the final stage of its construction—while Emperor Palpatine, ruler of the Galactic Empire, was aboard the battlestation. A Rebel armada, including Green Wing and his squadron mates, commanded by the Mon Calamari Admiral Ackbar from the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Home One, would attack the Death Star while an Alliance strike team, led by General Han Solo, attempted to destroy the bunker on Endor that produced the Death Star's protective deflector shield.
Green Wing and the Alliance Fleet emerged from hyperspace only to find that the Death Star's shield was still active, and that the Imperial Navy, led by the Star Dreadnought Executor, was waiting for them. As the two armadas engaged each other, the Rebels learned that the Death Star's superlaser was active when it destroyed the Star Cruiser Liberty. General Lando Calrissian, commander of the Rebel starfighter forces as Gold Leader in the YT-1300 light freighter Millennium Falcon, realized that the Alliance Fleet wouldn't stand a chance against a fully-operational Death Star. He informed Ackbar that their best bet for survival laid in engaging the Imperial Star Destroyers at point-blank range while they awaited the destruction of the shield generator protecting the battlestation.
As the battle progressed, Green Wing flew alongside Lando Calrissian, Red Squadron Commander Wedge Antilles, and Blue Squadron Leader Merrick Simms in an attack against the Empire's main communications ship, which had been jamming the Alliance Fleet's sensors and thus preventing them from knowing whether or not the shield protecting the Death Star was active. The communications ship had been damaged in an attack by a Rebel cruiser, but the Imperial destroyer had managed to obliterate its attacker, and its crew had begun repairs. The Rebel pilots, knowing that the Imperial warship could become fully operational again if they did not strike immediately, moved to intercept their target, flying in a manner that made them virtually invisible to the communications ship's personnel.
An RZ-1 A-wing interceptor, the type of starfighter flown by Green Squadron at Endor
Calrissian ordered Green Wing and the rest of the group to increase the strength of their forward deflector shields, while Antilles, in his T-65 X-wing starfighter, led the group in closing their formation and diving toward the destroyer's axis at a ninety-degree angle before leveling out slightly more than fifteen meters above the ship's hull and cruising along to reach their target. Immediately, they began to draw fire from the warship's batteries, and before he could coordinate with the other fighters in launching their assault, Green Wing was hit by enemy fire. With his starfighter critically damaged and on the verge of exploding, he steered his craft directly into the communications ship's forward weapons. The resulting explosion ripped through the destroyer's port side.
Green Wing's sacrifice enabled the three pilots to fly into the communications ship's cargo bay, where its main reactors were located. The trio managed to score a direct hit on the power generators, and the resulting explosions ripped apart the destroyer. Calrissian and Antilles successfully escaped the inferno, but Simms did not, as his fighter was gripped by the shock wave and thrown into the hull of a smaller Imperial warship—which was then also destroyed. With the communications ship gone, the Imperials' jamming of the Rebel Fleet ceased, but to their horror, they discovered that the deflector shield enveloping the Death Star was still active. Eventually, Solo's strike team managed to destroy the shield generator bunker on Endor, which enabled Calrissian and Antilles to lead Rebel fighters into the Death Star's superstructure and take out its main reactor, destroying the battlestation and securing a victory for the Alliance.
Green Wing was a Rebel pilot who served as Arvel Crynyd's second-in-command in Green Squadron. As the squadron's second-in-command, he assumed a leadership role within the squadron. During the Battle of Endor, Green Wing participated in an attack on the Imperial communications ship alongside Calrissian, Antilles, and Simms. Green Wing's fighter was heavily damaged by enemy fire during their attack run, but he was able to regain enough control of his craft to steer it directly into the communications ship's forward batteries, sacrificing himself. In doing so, a hole opened in the destroyer's hull, which allowed the three other pilots to maneuver their craft into the warship's interior and ultimately take down the destroyer, eliminating the Imperials' jamming of the Rebel Fleet and ultimately giving the Rebels an advantage in the remainder of the battle.
This otherwise-unidentified pilot, known by his squadron call sign "Green Wing," first appeared briefly in the 1983 novelization Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, in which he is shown participating in a Rebel attack on the Imperial communications ship during the Battle of Endor. Though this character did not appear in the film, he was given entries in all three editions of A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, the Star Wars Encyclopedia published in 1998, and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia published in 2008. His entry in the original A Guide to the Star Wars Universe confirmed that this pilot was male, something not mentioned in the novelization.
In the Return of the Jedi novelization, another character designated "Green Wing" appears during the final assault on the Star Dreadnought Executor in the closing acts of the Battle of Endor, some time after the initial Green Wing's death. This second Green Wing plays somewhat of an important role; he accompanies Green Leader in attacking the bridge of the Imperial flagship. His one line of dialogue, along with the following text, seems to indicate that his proton torpedoes are responsible for the destruction of the Executors bridge rather than Green Leader's suicidal tactic shown in the film.
- A Guide to the Star Wars Universe
- A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded
- Star Wars Encyclopedia
- Star Wars: Behind the Magic
- A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Third Edition, Revised and Expanded
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia