Greg joined the Marines upon graduation and saw heavy combat in Korea as a rifle platoon leader and company commander. Some of his exploits are recorded under the name Virgil Buell in a New York Times bestseller The Last Parallel by Martin Russ, who served in his platoon.

After discharge as a captain, he had a variety of odd jobs including professional prizefighter (“Grunting Greg, the Galloping Great”) and fruit picker before holding a long series of computer-related jobs in the Social Security Administration and companies such as IBM, Burroughs, Royal McBee, RCA, and General Dynamics. Later in his career he did work for the Defense Department before retiring from Raytheon in 1996.

Greg died June 26, 2019, at his home in Lynnwood, Wash. He is survived by his wife, Sandra; one sister; three children; three stepchildren; two grandchildren; and nine step-grandchildren. Two sisters and one grandson predeceased him.