RAY-EDDIE
EDDIE S. RAY
COL
Excerpts from article published in San Diego Union-Tribune on 5/27/2016:
NAVY CROSS FOR REPELLING TWO ATTACKS
In February 1991, Marine Captain Eddie Ray and his troops faced down a vastly larger enemy force during an intense battle of the Persian Gulf War. According to a military medal citation for Ray, his “courage, composure under fire and aggressive war fighting spirit” earned him the Navy Cross, the United States’ second highest honor for combat valor. A quarter of a century later, Ray prefers to dwell on the bravery of the Marines who served with him during that mission. “When the Navy Cross was…awarded, all I could think about was all the other people who really made it possible.” Said Ray, now 62 and living in South Carolina. “We operated as a team. All our training, all our preparation … everything we did seemed to come together at the right time.”
The buildup to the war began in August 1990 with Operation Desert Shield and a coalition of 34 countries that joined to condemn Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and to prevent further aggression. The war itself began in January 1991 and was mostly fought from the air. By late February, however, with American units in Saudi Arabia under nearly constant Iraqi artillery fire, troops from the lst and 2nd Marine Divisions and the 1st Light Armored Infantry Battalion crossed into Kuwait and headed toward Kuwait City. The following day, February 25, 1991, Ray demonstrated “extraordinary heroism” when elements of the 1st Marine Division faced a counterattack from an Iraqi mechanized division near the Burgan Oil Fields, according to the Navy Cross citation. He led his light armored vehicle division in rapid attacks against the enemy. He and his troops withstood massive amounts of enemy fire to defend their position. The division succeeded in defeating two Iraqi counterattacks. “I was just focused on what we needed to do next,” Ray said. “That doesn’t leave time to be afraid. The main priority is to survive, and the only way to survive is to defeat the enemy.”
He would eventually serve 31 years in the Marine Corps, rising to the rank of colonel, before retiring in 2008. Ray said a long military career wasn’t what he initially envisioned when he enlisted. For years he thought each promotion would be his last. But he continued to rise through the ranks. “My experience in the military has influenced me in the direction of human rights more than I would ever have thought it would,” Ray said. When I first came in, human rights seemed like a tree hugger kind of thing. But now I see what an effect it can have.”
He works with the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, whose stated mission is supporting “strategic investments to elevate development and diplomacy alongside defense in order to build a better, safer, world.” Ray said, “When there’s a natural disaster or some other major problem around the world, if the United States can get there and provide aid, it wins friends, it prevents wars and it is money well spent. “I spent a lot of years destroying stuff, and sometimes that’s necessary. But when you don’t have to, and when you can leave things a little bit better, that’s always a good thing,” he added.
NAVY CROSS CITATION
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Eddie S. Ray, Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving as Commanding Officer, Company B, First Light Armored Infantry Battalion, Task Force Shepherd, FIRST Marine Division, in the Emirate of Kuwait on 25 February 1991. During the early morning hours of G+1 of Operation Desert Storm, an Iraqi mechanized division counter-attacked elements of the FIRST Marine Division in the vicinity west of the flame and smoke engulfed Burgan Oil Fields in Southeastern Kuwait. As dense black smoke shrouded the battlefield, an Iraqi mechanized brigade engaged the FIRST Marine Division Forward Command Post security forces. During the ensuing intense ten hour battle, Captain Ray repeatedly maneuvered his Light Armored Vehicle Company in harm's way, skillfully integrating his Light Armored Infantry weapons, reinforcing TOW's, and AH-1W Attack Helicopters to decisively defeat main Iraqi counter-attacks. Leading from the front and constantly exposed to large volumes of enemy fire, Captain Ray led swift, violent attacks directly into the face of the vastly larger enemy force. These attacks shocked the enemy, destroyed 50 enemy Armored Personnel Carriers, and resulted in the capture of over 250 Iraqi soldiers. Operating perilously close to the attacking enemy, Captain Ray's courage, composure under fire, and aggressive war fighting spirit were instrumental in the defeat of a major enemy effort and the successful defense of the Division Forward Command Post. By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, Captain Ray reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.
Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)