LOUISVILLE, KY, US
U.S. Army
SGT, CO C, 4TH BN, 23D INFANTRY, 5 SBCT, FORT LEWIS, WA
08/29/2010, CAMP BASTION, AFGHANISTAN
Adam James Ray was the son of a military family. He lived in Louisville, Kentucky with his family for a decade. He had called his mother the weekend before he died to let her know he was doing OK, and that his unit was heading back to their home base after a mission. He noted that he promised not to be a hero. SGT Adam J. Ray was part of the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. He was twenty-three years old when he died February 9, 2010 in southern Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
Prior to serving in Afghanistan; he served a year-long tour of duty at Camp Casey, South Korea. During his service, he received several military honors including, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal-Army Service Ribbon. Donna Ray said the family learned this week her son also will receive a Bronze Star and an Army Commendation medal. Adam enlisted in April 2005, was on his first combat deployment and had been in Afghanistan since July.
Adam attended Overdale Elementary School in Hillview and was home schooled before attending Oak Hill Academy, a Christian school in West Point, Miss. A young man with a ready smile, Adam liked listening to Bob Dylan and Charlie Daniels. He had recently taken up guitar, and was planning to travel with his Army buddies when their tour was over. Adam also had a funny side, and she recalled how he would often kid his family by pretending he was a University of Kentucky Wildcat fan when he knew many of them supported the University of Louisville Cardinals. He was thoughtful, loyal and helpful and protective. He also knew that his life was in danger as an active duty service member on deployment. On a visit home prior to his death Adam ensured that his family knew that they were loved by him. He had a tattoo done on his chest of a four-leaf clover that was meant to represent his mother and father, and four siblings. Adam never regretted doing what he was doing. He loved the Army though he hated the sadness and evil of war and combat. Adam was a soccer player and a flirt, who tutored dyslexic kids and was known to ask less popular girls to dance at school events. He was 23 years old when he died.