Sponsored by:

Navy Federal Credit Union
Earl
Edgar
Ray
1905-08-25

–

1992-08-06

Born:

Muscogee

, 

Oklahoma

Home:

Northwood Ridge

, 

New Hampshire

Buried: 

Santa Ana

, 

California

Cemetery:

Fairhaven Memorial Park

Born in Oklahoma, Earl Ray grew up in Plainview, Texas, where he graduated from local grade schools and high schools. He then attended and graduated from Wayland Junior Baptist College in Plainview. He received his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Andover-Newton Theological Seminary in Newton Center, Massachusetts, graduating in 1939. He was ordained a Baptist minister the following year, serving as pastor of Northwood Ridge Community Church in Northwood, New Hampshire, when he was called to duty in the U.S. Army and was commissioned as a chaplain in 1941. Following his war service, he was assigned by the Army as Director of Chaplain Service in eight Veterans Administration hospitals in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Awards Received

  • Silver Star

    Service:

    United States Army

    Rank:

    First Lieutenant (Chaplain’s Corps)

    Regiment:

    39th Infantry Regiment

    Division:

    9th Infantry Division

    Action Date:

    March 1943
    Headquarters, 9th Infantry Division, General Orders No. 51 (June 23, 1943)

    The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant (Chaplain’s Corps) Earl Edgar Ray (ASN: 0-401964), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving as Regimental Chaplain with the 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, in action southeast of El Guettar, Tunisia, on ** March 1943. Chaplain Ray moved forward with the advanced aid station under intense machine gun, mortar and artillery fire to within one hundred yards of the front lines where he remained until ** April 1943, giving first aid, assisting in plasma administration, acting as litter bearer, evacuating walking and litter wounded, reassuring those cases of anxiety amenable to immediate psychotherapy and supervising the feeding and comfort of those patients awaiting evacuation to the rear. Many instances characterize Chaplain RayÕs exceptional courage and gallantry in action. The gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty demonstrated by Ray, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.