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Blue Skies Buck
From ANN:
Gone West: Hayden 'Buck' Gregory WWII Ace Passes Away On His 92nd Birthday
People like Hayden "Buck" Gregory were the reason those who
fought in World War II -- or served their country in other
capacities -- earned that title. Gregory was a 16-year-old Naval
cadet when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and later flew
Kingfisher observation planes on anti-submarine patrols near Cuba.
He was assigned later to Fighter Squadron 82, flying off the
aircraft carrier USS Bennington.
In a December 2005 interview with the Albuquerque Tribune,
Gregory recalled a February 1945 mission, in which his shot-up
Grumman F6F Hellcat barely made it back to the
Bennington.
Hellcats were made of tough stuff... but even those planes
couldn't last long without their tail assemblies, or a full section
of a wing missing. Somehow, he guided the Hellcat back home.
"When I got out of that plane, they just pushed it overboard,"
he told The Tribune. "It just wasn't repairable."
Gregory had five confirmed kills in WWII, including three
kamikaze planes in one day. "I hit him in the cockpit," Gregory
said, recalling one of the suicide pilots he shot down. "I flew
alongside, and I could see his head hanging out of the cockpit and
his earflaps were hanging out. He was dead."
That earned him "Ace" status, as
well as the Silver Star and the Distinguished Flying Cross. It was
a far cry from his earlier days, growing up on a West Texas
ranch.
"When I was young. there was an airplane that would come across
our place, flying low, and the pilot would wave at us kids who
would be punching cattle or hoeing cotton," Gregory recalled. "I
said, `You know, that looks like a pretty good life.' "
He retired from the Navy in 1968, with the rank of commander.
Gregory had spent his last years in the service as a recruiter in
Albuquerque. His daughter, Nancy Lockwood, says her father enjoyed
gardening in his life after the military, along with tinkering with
cars.
"My brother Jerry used to make up reasons to work on his car
with Dad, just for the joy of working with him and learning from
him," Lockwood told the Tribune recently. "They used to spend hours
under that car."
It is with sadness and respect Aero-News reports Hayden "Buck"
Gregory has gone west... where he may now chose to fly as high as
his wings will take him, or stay closer to the ground if he
prefers.
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