Grayson Hayes and Eleanor Bass

Grayson and Eleanor Hayes

When Grayson (NMI) Hayes was born, in Monroe, NC on July 10, 1918, his father, Frederick Watson Hayes, Sr. was 36 and his mother Margaret Louisa Hargette, of Union County, was 35.  Interestingly, Grayson's mother, Maggie, was something of a history student.  During her pregnancy with him, she read about a Revolutionary War hero named Casimir Pulaski.  She gave Grayson the middle name of Pulaski.  He hated the name, and legally had it dropped some time during his military service.

From 1941 Passenger List

At age 18, Grayson enlisted in Battery F 113th Field Artillery of the National Guard; he served 2 years, 39 days. 

On the 1940 Monroe Census, 21-year-old Grayson was recorded as a farm laborer, with farmer father F. Watson Hayes 58, mother L. Margaret 57, and siblings Margaret 19, Frank 15, and 13-year-old Steve Hayes.

On November 12, 1943, Grayson married Eleanor Mae Bass in Clovis, New Mexico.

Eleanor was born October 27, 1922 in Matthews, Mecklenburg County, NC to Jesse Rea Bass Sr. and Lola Asbury Deese. Eleanor was a 1940 graduate of Charlotte Commercial College. She worked in the Quartermaster Office at Morris Field in Charlotte and at the Hospital Office of the Air Base in Amorilla, Texas during WWII. After the war, Eleanor worked for the Farmers Home Administration, USDA, and retired in 1982 as District Loan Assistant.

WWII Draft Card

1942 WWII Enlistment

During World War II, Grayson served in the 838th Squadron, 487th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force, and was stationed at former Air Force Station 137, Lavenham, England from 1942‒1945. He was a Flight Engineer and top turret gunner on B24s and B17s.

As an Airplane Engineer/Gunner, Grayson flew Air Offensive Europe, with flights over Normandy, Northern France, and the Rhineland. He flew 28 risky missions and received decorations and citations: EAMET Campaign Medal with 4 Bronze Service Stars; Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters; Distinguished Flying Cross GA#698 Hq 3rd Bomb Div., 25 Sept 1944; Good Conduct Medal SO#7 Hq. 437th Bomb GP (now 487th); Graduate AM Course 1942, Keesler Field, Miss.; Graduate B-26 Maint. School 1942; Graduate Aerial Gunnery School, August 1943. 

Grayson Hayes 1943

After the war, using the GI Bill, Grayson entered NC State College, where he graduated with a BS in Agriculture, and had three terms on his Masters in Economics. On November 11, 1947, while in school at NC State College, Grayson enlisted in the Army National Guard; he retired July 30, 1978 as Lieutenant Colonel. His total service (for pay purposes) was 32 years, 6 months, and 19 days. Grayson Hayes died on March 16, 1980 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 61.  He was buried in Lakeland Memorial Park in Monroe, NC.

Grayson and Eleanor became parents of:

• Roger Grayson Hayes was born September 14, 1945.

• Eleanor Kaye Hayes was born May 18, 1947.

• Kent Lane Hayes was born May 25, 1951.

• Don Benet Hayes was born June 11, 1953.

Grayson, Eleanor and Children