Master Sergeant Gray was a veteran of World War II. In Korea, he was a member of Battery B, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. Initially, he was listed as Missing in Action on 1 December 1950 while fighting the enemy near Somindong, North Korea. On 24 March 1954, the Department of the Army declared that he had died of wounds on 30 November 1950. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Gray was awarded the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, the Republic of Korea War Service Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.