[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 53 (Thursday, April 15, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E562-E563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    TRIBUTE TO JOHN GRAY, ONE OF SOUTH ALABAMA'S WORLD WAR II HEROES

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                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 15, 2010

  Mr. BONNER. Madam Speaker, it is with tremendous sadness that I rise 
to note the passing of a noteworthy World War II veteran and a truly 
great American, Mr. John Franklin Gray, who recently passed away at the 
age of 87.
  Named the 2007 Mobile Bay Area Veteran of the Year, Mr. Gray was a 
remarkable man in every way imaginable.
  He was a trailblazer as one of the first African Americans to be 
accepted into the United States Marines Corps. Trained at the Marine 
Corp's African American boot camp at Montford Point, Camp Lejune, N.C., 
he served more than a year and a half in a segregated unit while 
fighting in the Pacific.
  John Gray's service was highlighted in the Ken Burns PBS television 
documentary, ``The War.''
  Mr. Gray, like so many of America's ``Greatest Generation,'' helped 
our country win the war, and then returned home to Mobile, Alabama 
where he devoted much of the remainder of his working lifetime to 
educating our young people in the Mobile County public schools. After 
more than 50 years in the school system, he retired as assistant 
principal at Mobile's Shaw High School.
  Those who knew him best said John Gray was proudest of his service to 
the students and his service to America. He was a Marine to the end and 
loved the Corps.
  On a personal note, I considered it one of my great honors to have 
gotten to know Mr. Gray in the twilight of his life. Whenever he and I 
were together--whether it was at a Veteran's Day parade or at a welcome 
home ceremony for one of our units returning from Iraq or Afghanistan, 
Mr. Gray was always the epitome of a Marine's Marine, standing tall and 
proud for freedom and for liberty.
  On behalf of the people of South Alabama, and on the part of a 
grateful nation, I wish to thank Mr. John Gray for his distinguished 
service and his exemplary life. And I extend my condolences to his 
wife, the Rev. Edwina Gray, his six children, John Gray, Gordon Gray, 
Danielle Gray, Rhonda Gray, Alice Gray, and Gable Gray, as well as 
countless other friends and family.
  They are all in our thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.

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