Charles Ross Greening

Colonel Charles Ross Greening (November 12, 1914 – March 29, 1957) 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 and 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. 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. They were married on 11 November 1937. They had two children together, both boys, Allen and Chuck. The crews eventually reunited on the ground, and with Chinese assistance, finally made it to Chongqing on 29 April. There, all of the raiders were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by General and Colonel John Magruder and Clayton Lawrence Bissell, and personally thanked by Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, Madame Chiang Kai-shek. On 4 May, the raiders made it to Dinjon, India.

He then attended Armed Forces Staff College from August 1948 to January 1949, and then served as an RB-17 Flying Fortress and RB-29 Superfortress pilot and as Director of Operations and Training for the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, from January to June 1949. He next served as Commander of the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Group at McGuire AFB from June to August 1949, followed by U.S. Air Force Special Staff School at Craig Air Force Base, Alabama, from September to October 1949.

Silver Star citation Citation:

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.