AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  -
MODEL:  B-29

Citation:  1.) The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Staff Sergeant Donald E. Gregg for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight 25 May 1945. These individuals were combat crew members of a B-29 flying from the Marianas Islands on a night incendiary attack against industrial installations located in the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Shortly after they reached the Japanese coast, the interphone system became inoperative, greatly hampering the performance of duties and adding much to the hazards of night flying over enemy territory. After unsuccessfully attempting to repair their interphone, the crew devised a system of hand signals which enabled communications to pass rapidly to all stations on the plane. These signals were used throughout the bombing run and the breakaway and were a great aid in avoiding the suicide fighters, search lights and anti-aircraft fire in the target area. The ingenuity and excellent teamwork of this crew, coupled with the highest degree of professional skill, enabled them to bomb the primary target, thus aiding materially in the destruction of more than twenty-two square miles of this industrial hub of Tokyo on this and the previous mission. The courageous actions of these veterans of repeated assaults against the Japanese homeland reflect great credit on themselves and the Army Air Forces.