[2] Born in Quitman, Arkansas, Gunn enlisted in the Navy prior to America's entry into the First World War and eventually served as an aircraft mechanic while learning to fly on his own time.

[3] He flew evacuation missions for US military personnel out of Japanese-held territory on a volunteer basis before being directly commissioned into the US Army Air Forces.

General George C. Kenney, the new commander of the Allied air forces in the Southwest Pacific Theater, arrived in Australia in the summer of 1942.

He found Gunn converting the A-20s of the 3d Bombardment Group (Light) into strafers by adding four .50-caliber machine guns to the Havocs' noses.

When the A-20s proved highly successful in low-level strikes against Japanese shipping and ground targets, Gen Kenney gave Gunn the go-ahead to convert a squadron of B-25s into similar strafers.

[6] After Japan's surrender in World War II, Gunn turned to rebuilding his Philippine Air Lines.