Army Sgt Ray was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. He died of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. During the third grade, Ray visited a World War II museum and decided he had to join the Army. When he enlisted in the Army in April 2005, he started out as a hospital patient administration specialist but decided he wanted to be on the front lines. So in April 2008, he retrained as a rifleman and left in July for Afghanistan with his brigade. Adam was an excellent soldier whose sense of humor kept others upbeat during tough times. He received several military honors, including Combat Infantryman Badge, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon and posthumously received a promotion to sergeant and won the Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal. Adam was an extraordinary person – a soccer player, a flirt, he tutored dyslexic kids, and would always try to make the less popular girls feel special by asking them to dance at school events. On the day he was killed, he and two other soldiers were clearing a culvert so their unit could pass safely over it. There was an explosion and Adam was hit in the neck. He was patched, put on a litter and waited for an Army helicopter with a red cross on it to land. After the helo arrived, the wounded were loaded and flown to Camp Bastion where Adam died. Even the nearness of death could not diminish Adam's wonderful sense of humor – he continued to crack jokes and laugh with his rescuers and buddies until the end.
Army Sgt Ray was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. He died of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. During the third grade, Ray visited a World War II museum and decided he had to join the Army. When he enlisted in the Army in April 2005, he started out as a hospital patient administration specialist but decided he wanted to be on the front lines. So in April 2008, he retrained as a rifleman and left in July for Afghanistan with his brigade. Adam was an excellent soldier whose sense of humor kept others upbeat during tough times. He received several military honors, including Combat Infantryman Badge, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon and posthumously received a promotion to sergeant and won the Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal. Adam was an extraordinary person – a soccer player, a flirt, he tutored dyslexic kids, and would always try to make the less popular girls feel special by asking them to dance at school events. On the day he was killed, he and two other soldiers were clearing a culvert so their unit could pass safely over it. There was an explosion and Adam was hit in the neck. He was patched, put on a litter and waited for an Army helicopter with a red cross on it to land. After the helo arrived, the wounded were loaded and flown to Camp Bastion where Adam died. Even the nearness of death could not diminish Adam's wonderful sense of humor – he continued to crack jokes and laugh with his rescuers and buddies until the end.
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
