Around the World

By Kathie Dalton, Veterans News Magazine

Art Gregg enlisted in the Army Air Corps in April 1941 and got his silver wings and 2nd lieutenant commission five days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Those wings took him halfway around the world.

2nd Lt. Gregg, who grew up on a farm in Ohio dreaming of being a pilot, was initially assigned to the 10th AF, 8th Pursuit Group at Mitchel Field in Long Island, N.Y. In a matter of days, he was reassigned to the 33rd, PG, 59th Squadron in Baltimore Md. After much movement around the East Coast, Gregg boarded the USS Ranger bound for India on April 22, 1942.

After a brief stop in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on the 29th of April, they sailed for India only two hours ahead of a German submarine.

Gregg flew his P-40 in the China Burma India Theater, where the first large-scale usage of the aircraft carrier took place. Aircraft decks were about 800 feet long, and fighter pilots at this time used half the deck.

He remembers the first time he took off from a carrier. It was on May 10, 1942, the day before sharing the mess hall with Gen. Jimmy Doolittle.

In his memoir, Gregg recalled, “None of us talked to him, and we didn’t know he was on his way home from the raid on Tokyo.”

His squadron embarked on a 35 hour flight to Karachi, India, with brief stops in Khartoum, Cairo, Bagdad, and Basra to refuel. This Ohio farm boy was definitely expanding his horizons as well as being promoted to 1st Lt. Gregg in February of ’43.

Flying under squadron commander Col. Robert Scott, author of “God is my Co-Pilot,” they flew over the Burma Hump and engaged with Japanese Zeros near Mt Everest.

That same month, dozens of Japanese Zeros swooped down from the sky to attack the base. Gregg ran for his P-40 and managed to take off while under attack and give chase. Gregg was among a group of American pilots who shot down at least 28 planes that day. He was credited with shooting down one.

“Such escapes I credit to my mother’s prayers,” Gregg says in his memoir.

In October 1943, his squadron took over the duties of the Flying Tigers and became part of the 14th Air Force under Gen. Claire Lee Chenault. They had big shoes to fill now that their P-40s boasted the iconic shark-tooth noses. Also in 1943, Gregg was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for 50 missions.

No longer the fresh-faced farm boy, on Gregg’s 24th birthday he took part in a strafing mission of a motor truck and troop formation. There were reports of 160 Japanese killed.

Gregg flew a total of 69 combat missions during his 45 months of service in World War II. He reported state-side in 1943, was soon promoted to captain and began training French fighter pilots.

Upon his separation from the Air Force in December 1945, he was able to purchase a 60-acre farm with his pay and bonus. He and his wife, Marguerite, made their home there before moving to Silverton. Together, they raised three children.

As a civilian, Gregg continued his life of service in the Silverton community. Despite losing his wife of 58 years in 2004, he is very active.

Gregg celebrated his 100th birthday in style on Feb. 16th at the Silverton Senior Center. An estimated 100-plus people turned out for the festivities in honor of the WWII fighter pilot, who is one of Oregon’s oldest living veterans.

State Rep. Rick Lewis, Oregon Assistant Adjutant General Brigadier General Mark Crosby, Sheronne Blasi from the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs and Michael Kline representing Congressman Schrader’s Office all spoke at the event and presented gifts to Gregg.

Gregg is very modest about his service. He considers those years as the honor of a lifetime and is proud of what he did.

In 1998, Gregg wrote about his experiences and eventually expanded it in a revised memoir, “Farm Boy to Fly Boy: Memoirs of a World War II Fighter Pilot,” as a celebration of his 100th birthday in February 2019.