MAY 1, 2002
Smoke Signals 5
Hero Distinguished WWII Pilot led, and allowed others to live "Lives of Destiny"
Tribal Elder Carroll Grenia passed away early this year, but he lives on in the memories of his family and
fellow Veterans whose lives he saved again and again.
By Chris Mercier
The address indicates Iowa Falls, Iowa. In bold
cursive font, inscribed at the top of the letter, is
written: From the desk of Kermit Neubauer.
"Dear Trudy" begins the letter.
" could sit and write for hours about my
love, respect, and feelings I had for Carroll
and still not say what I would like to say.
He was the brother I always had, always
keeping me under his watchful eye.
"J remember one mission, about our first
or second one, when they were tracking our
aircraft with flak guns and I called on the
intercom and said 'flak.' Shortly after that
we got several direct hits. Our oxygen sys
tem was short and we had to go on emer
gency (illegible) and also lost the power on
our engine. We made it home okay, but I
could tell Carroll wasn't happy. He didn't
say a word until he got me alone. He didn't
get angry, but in his soft, gentle voice told
me if I had properly reported the location of
the flak, he could have used 'Evasive Action'
and we wouldn't have been hit. He always
said 'I'll make you the best tailgunner in
the Eighth Air Force.'
"So now I'm in sorrow, because I've lost a
very dear friend."
Grand Ronde Tribal Elder
Carroll Frank Grenia passed
away on January 6 of this
year, losing a battle with
Parkinson's disease. But he
did live to see the sterling age
of 84 years, 55 of them mar
ried to Trudy, who following
his passing was flooded with
letters from longtime chums,
acquaintances and most no
tably, members of that "My Ideal" crew who flew
bombing raids in Europe during World War II.
Glancing through the mound of paperwork
Trudy loaned us, one couldn't help but feel that
who ever this Carroll Grenia fellow was, respect,
love and grace under fire fit him like a finely
tailored suit. Everything about him screamed
"extraordinary," from young to old.
To start Carroll was born Oct. 12, 1917 in
Skamania to Joseph and Carrie (Williams)
Grenia. His bloodline was pure pioneer a de
scendant of the Charles Williams family of
Skamania and the James Grenia family of
Greenleaf, Washington. His great-great-greatgrandfather
was none other than Stilgat, Chief
of the Chinook village at Baker's Bay, located in
Washington near the mouth of the Columbia.
Stilgat's son Tomalth was a signer of the Janu
ary 10, 1855 treaty.
Carroll had the type of upbringing that Mark
Twain would have loved to write about. A poi
gnant letter to Trudy, written by his sister from
White Swan near Yakima, captured so elo
quently an early 20th century rural childhood,
not what one would call privileged.
"Carroll grew up very poor, so poor," explained
Trudy. "His mother was very Indian, she knew
how to live off the land berries, roots, fish. She
died at 94."
They lived during the 1910's and 1920's, be
fore the age of supermarkets, meaning that fami
lies would often produce their own food. A cow
supplied them with milk, and they churned their
own butter. Fishwheels still lined the Columbia
near their Cascades home, and in that same
river they caught the salmon and dipped into
the water for the annual smelt runs. Smoked,
canned and pickled fish were the norm, from
salmon to sturgeon.
To help out the family, Carroll and his sister
would trek into the local blackberry trestles to
pick the fruits. Portland weekenders at Moffet's
Hot Springs Resort would buy the berries.
Joseph and Carrie still had to find odd jobs to
make ends meet. Carrie cooked in a logging camp
and Joseph eventually had to go away to Bea
ver Creek to find work.
Carroll's education was an odd one. At one
point he and his sister were the only two stu
dents in their one-room school. In 1930, the fam
ily moved to Washougal where Carroll would
play in the local high school band. He gradu
ated from Washougal High School in 1935, an
avid reader, a good student talented in math
and English.
Carroll worked after high school for a few years
and also attended Clark Junior College in
Vancouver, Washington. When the war broke
out in Europe, he enlisted in the United States
Air Force. Like a lot of people, what he probably
didn't know at the time was that World War II
would make him a hero, a man whose name
would outlive his life.
After completion of the Army Air Corps Flight
Training School in November of 1943, Carroll
was selected to serve as a pilot in the European
Theater of Operation as a
First Lieutenant. From
June of 1944 to November
of that same year he par
ticipated in four major
Wwi m mrs. t mim m i n mmm mm, i i m il u m m i i ii
campaigns: Normandy,
Northern France,
Rhineland, and Air Com
bat Europe. He logged
271 hours of piloting on 35
different combat missions,
some of which his B-17,
dubbed "My Ideal", was the only one to return,
and not always in the best of shape.
Carroll was known for his calm demeanor,
Trudy explained. Physically, he wasn't exactly
an imposing figure, being only 5 foot 8, weigh
ing in the neighborhood of 160 pounds. As some
of his old crewmembers told her, upon first meet
ing Carroll, he did not look like a pilot. Yet all
his missions were completed successfully, the
entire crew intact.
Looking over photocopies of his war diary,
Carroll was amazingly candid, admitting fear
at times, yet cool and resilient throughout. He
put to pen what must have been the most hor
rific of conditions.
"Enemy fighters hit from 5 to 7 o'clock
high. 385th lost 12 ships." Berlin
Or another entry, the 31st mission:
"10-15-44 Gas Generating Plant-Cologne
(Germany)
Poor fighter support beautiful sunrise
2 B-17 exploded in group in back"
Or yet another entry, his 32nd mission:
"10-17-44 Marshalling Yard
Cologne ship 156
Hydraulic system shot out motor caught
on fire
Used chutes for landing (lost wagons and
wheels, not me)"
Indeed, neither the crew nor Grenia had an
easy time in their raids, not from the start even.
Here reads the July 13, 1944 entry for "Pappy"
or Chris B. Chapman of Georgia, in what was
his second mission, and consequently their sec
ond mission, a bombing raid over Munich:
"Enemy fighters attacked mostly the for
mation behind us I was scared at first but
ail the fellows said I did OK. It really sur
prised me I don't want to see fighters
again."
To pilot 35 missions of such nature took an
extraordinary person, and the U.S. Armed Forces
were quick to recognize that following the war,
and really, the entire career of Carroll Grenia.
Few U.S. Servicemen are ever as decorated as
he. His list of decorations and awards is just
amazing Distinguished Flying Cross, Air
Medal with Four Bronze Oak, Leaf Clusters, Air
Force Outstanding Unit Award, American Cam
paign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern
Campaign Medal with Four Bronze Service Stars
and a World War II Victory Medal. And that's
only about half of them.
Following the war, Carroll continued to serve,
even after meeting Trudy and marrying her in
1946. True to character, the wedding was a
military one, held at Scott Field, Illinois.
A career in the service meant two things. One,
that he would be required to leave for long peri
ods of time, in one in
stance eight months.
Two, the couple, and
eventually, family,
had to move con
stantly. For three
years they lived
"overseas" in a U.S.
territory called
Alaska. They also
spent another three
years in Hawaii, from
1959 to 1962. Carroll
did one six-month
stint installing radar
towers in Iceland.
The family also lived
in Boca Raton, Or
lando, Clovis (New
Mexico), Biloxi and
others, usually aver
aging a one-year stay
at each stop.
"If I counted cor
rectly," said Trudy. "I'd say we moved 30 times."
Carroll and Trudy had four children and were
essentially married for life. Trudy now boasts
one grandchild and one great grandchild.
Carroll's dedication to country went on the bulk
of his life. He was involved in the Korean Con
flict and was flying supplies to Vietnam long
before anybody knew what was about to unfold
there. Even after retiring from the service in
1966, he still continued in a civil service capac
ity, working as a contracting officer for 16 years.
All in all, he put in 40 years of federal service.
Friendship carried a special meaning to him
throughout his life. He kept in touch with all
the crew of the "My Ideal" B-17 Bomber, despite
each living in different parts of the country.
Their reunion 45 years later was one for the ages.
"They were so happy to see each other," said
Trudy.
The admiration for Carroll apparently never
died either. In a letter to the Grenia's posted
December 5 of last year, Bill "Red" Staley wrote:
"This Thanksgiving (what with 9-11) was
very special for many. I personally was
thankful that we survived as "My Ideal"
crew in our ventures over Europe. Carroll,
I never told you but I have always felt that
this was possible because you were our pi
lot. Many times when we were landing af
ter a mission, I would thank the Lord that
you were our pilot. I knew the rest of the
crew felt the same. Your calm and quiet
approach to each mission gave us a lot of
confidence that we would survive. We did
and we all were able to live lives of destiny."
Which pretty much does a good job of summa
rizing just who was Carroll Grenia. B
I U ' '