Infantryman traded desk job to help protect people

4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Soldier killed by IED in Afghanistan Feb. 9

Laura M. Levering/Northwest Guardian

He traded his desk job for one that he knew would put him in harm’s way. It was a decision that nobody knew would end up claiming his life.

Sergeant Adam James Ray was honored during a memorial service at Joint Base Lewis-McChord Lewis North Chapel on Feb. 24.

The 23-year-old grenadier with 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, died of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device on Feb. 9, in southern Afghanistan.

“He was killed by an IED – the very weapon system that he was working to protect the Afghan people from,” said Lt. Col. Burton Shields, 4-23 Inf. commander, as quoted by the battalion rear detachment commander, Capt. Nicholas Carlton.

Shields said that Ray was killed sometime after returning from another forward operating base, where he had helped move the remaining pieces of the battalion’s property.

“He never hesitated to go out on a mission,” Shields said. “This was the type of man he was.”

Ray enlisted as a patient administration specialist in April 2005. In February 2007, he was assigned to Madigan Army Medical enter after completing a tour in Korea. In April 2008, he reclassified as an infantryman.

Ray’s friend and fellow infantryman, Spc. Daniel Nye, recalled meeting Ray for the first time. He received a call requesting help with moving a Soldier from one barracks to another.

“I groaned and complained in my usual fashion, then (drove) over to (Ray’s) barracks and helped him move into our barracks,” Nye said.

The move was followed by a conversation over lunch about why Ray decided to become an infantryman.

“Although I’m hard-pressed to remember the exact conversation, I do remember grilling him about why, when all is sane in this world, he chose to re-class to infantry,” Nye said. “It was a long conversation full of laughs, but in the end, I told him that I loved this job, and I was glad that he decided to come over to the dark side.”

Nye picked up Ray from the airport after completing infantry training at Fort Benning, Ga., where Nye said he had found a new friend.

“You just know when you’re going to get along with someone, and from that day forward, where there was one, there was most certainly the other,” Nye said.

Ray had many qualities about him, but one that stood out above most was his ability to fit in socially and the desire to make others feel welcomed. Nye recalled a time when Ray befriended a Soldier in the battalion who was viewed by fellow Soldiers as a social outcast.

“(Ray) began to hang with (the Soldier), and they became friends,” Nye said. “He had a great ability to accept people for who they are, no matter what, and when he was with someone, he defended them.”

Ray’s heart was as big as his sense of humor. Before Nye’s deployment was cut short for medical reasons, he and Ray had spent countless hours talking and joking about life.

“Our humor helped deal with a lot of the hard times that we had,” Nye said. “He had a really good sense of humor and openness.”

Since meeting Ray’s family, Nye said he gained great insight into why Ray was such a caring person.

“I was accepted immediately,” Nye said. “Before I had even met them, and in a four-day period, I had all of the questions answered as to what made my friend the way he was ... Very noble and a very good mix of structured and crazy, which explains my friend quite well.”

Nye and Ray had planned to travel Europe together after returning from Afghanistan. It’s a trip that Nye said he now looks forward to taking with Ray’s family.

Ray’s awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, NATO Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge.