Charles Ross Greening

Colonel Charles Ross Greening
Born	(1914-11-12)November 12, 1914 Carroll, Iowa
Died	March 29, 1957(1957-03-29) (aged 42) Bethesda, Maryland
Buried	Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	Army Air Force
Years of service	1936–1957
Rank	Colonel
Notable missions	Doolittle Raid
Awards	Distinguished Flying Cross Purple Heart
Spouse(s)	Dorothy Greening

Colonel Charles Ross Greening was an accomplished pilot and artist. He was one of the 73 men out of the 80 Doolittle Raiders to survive the attack and return home to his family.

Early years; education

Charles Ross Greening was born on November 12, 1914 in Carroll, Iowa, to Charles W and Olive Jewell (née Ross) Greening. He took his first plane ride in June 1921. After his father's bank failed, the family moved to Tacoma, Washington in 1925.

Greening received a bachelor's degree from Washington State College of Fine Arts in 1936, minoring in physical education and military science, and serving as the ROTC commandant. He entered the military on June 23, 1936 at Fort Lewis, Washington.

On 9 June 1937, Greening graduated from the Air Corps Flying School at Randolph Field. He was then assigned to the 20th Pursuit Group at Barksdale Field, flying Curtiss P-6 Hawks and Boeing P-26 Peashooters.

Shortly after arriving at his first duty station, Greening took leave to marry his college sweetheart, Dorothy "Dot" Watson (1912-2003). They were married on 11 November 1937. They would have two children together, both boys, Allen and Chuck.

In 1938, he was assigned to Hamilton Army Airfield and the 7th Bombardment Group. Then in 1940, Greening volunteered to open McChord Field, where he flew the Douglas B-23 Dragon, and then the B-25. Then in 1941, his unit was assigned to Pendleton Field, where they patrolled the Oregon Coast for Japanese submarines after the start of WWII. They then transferred back to McChord, and then onwards to Columbia, South Carolina, where Greening volunteered to help with the B-25 armament for Doolittle's upcoming secret and hazardous mission. Greening joined the Doolittle group at Eglin Field. Greening eventually took over the role of pilot for plane #40-2249, with Kenneth Reddy as co-pilot, Frank Kappeler as navigator, Melvin Gardner as engineer-gunner, and William Birch as bombardier-gunner.

World War II

On April 18, 1942, then Captain Greening, piloting the Hari Kari-er, a B-25B Mitchell medium bomber equipped with the "Mark Twain" bombsight he designed, launched from the United States Navy's aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8), in the Doolittle Raid of Japan. He led a flight of three aircraft to bomb oil refineries, docks, warehouses and industrial areas of Yokohama. He and his crew survived the raid, reaching China in the area northeast of Quzhou before they ran out of gas and had to abandoned their aircraft.

After he returned from China, Greening trained in the Martin B-26 Marauder. He was assigned to a base in North Africa, and flew 27 missions before being shot down over Italy on July 17, 1943 and taken prisoner. He escaped and evaded capture until early 1944, after which he was held at the Stalag Luft I POW camp for the duration of the war.

After the war, he continued on active duty in the Air Force until he died of an infection on March 29, 1957, at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland.

Legacy

Greening wrote and painted pictures from his life and experience during the war. After he died in 1957, his wife Dorothy gathered his notes and pictures and, with the help of his sister, Shirley Greening Morgan, and her daughter (his niece), Karen Morgan Driscoll, published his memoir, Not as Briefed: From the Doolittle Raid to a German Stalag.

References

• Archbold, Mike (April 20, 2008). "WWII hero hailed from Tacoma". The News Tribune. Archived from the original on 2013-06-30. Retrieved 7 June 2013.