Clayton Kelly Gross


CPT Clayton Kelly Gross from Walla Walla, Washington is a Army Air Forces World War II Ace who shot down 6 enemy planes over Europe. Gross also flew planes in the D-Day invasion of Normany, France both on November 5, and November 6, 1944. He was a recipient of the American Fighter Aces Congressional Gold Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Silver Star. He flew in 105 combat missions during WWII.

Education

In 1941 Clayton Kelly Gross was a 20 year old Aviation Cadet with the Army Air Forces. He received his Commission and the rank of Captain, and in 1942, he was flying a P-47 Thunderbolt and fighting arial battles in the European Theater of World War II.
In 1943 Gross was assigned to the 354th Fighter Group and he began flying P-51 Mustangs. He was credited with 5 aerial kills, earning him the status of an ace. By the end of the war, he shot down three and a half more planes including an Me 262.

D-Day

On On the night of June 5, 1944: the night before the D-Day Invasion of France, Gross participated in a secret mission escorting gliders behind enemy lines at Normandy, France. On June 6, 1944 the date of D-Day Gross flew a P-51 Mustang he named “Live Bait,”. His superior told him to fly low and attract enemy fire. Gross joked that he would be live bait.
IN 1944 Gross was on a bombing mission over Berlin when he engaged Bf 109. An allied P-47 Accidentally shot Gross's P-51 and the 50 caliber bullet pushed the back of the cockpit into Gross's head. He flew 105 combat missions he flew.
In 2006 he wrote and published his memoirs entitled: Live Bait: WWII Memoirs of an "Undefeated Fighter Ace".
In 2014 Gross was one of a handful of Aces who attended a White House ceremony with President Barack Obama to sign the H.R. 685, the American Fighter Aces
Congressional Gold Medal Act, into law.

Affiliations

Laird was born in Walla Walla, Washington and he attended high school and was raised in Spokane, Washington. His wife was named Ramona and together they had one son, Mike; and one daughter, Mary. Gross was a career dentist in Vancouver. He retired in 1998.