GMC News
Georgia Military College Hosts Ceremony Honoring the Late Reverend Horace Ray, Sr. for Congressional Gold Medal Award
Georgia Military College Hosts Ceremony Honoring the Late Reverend Horace Ray, Sr. for Congressional Gold Medal Award
Georgia Military College (GMC) proudly host a special ceremony to honor the Late Reverend Horace Ray, Sr., who will be posthumously awarded the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal by the National Montford Point Marine Association, Inc. in recognition of his personal sacrifice and service while serving in U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Montford Point. The ceremony took place on Saturday, August 19, at 11:00 a.m. in the Legislative Chamber within the historic Old Capitol Building on the GMC campus.
Reverend Ray Sr. was a true servant leader. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in the early 1940s and after his time in the military he went on to pastor at the St. Mary Baptist Church for over twenty years. He served as a Chaplain for Central State Hospital and Oconee Regional Hospital (Navicent Health) and also served on the City of Milledgeville Zoning Appeals Board, was president of the PTA at City Elementary School, and was a member of the Georgia Military College Board of Trustees for five years. Reverend Ray Sr. was a pillar of the community and was beloved by so many.
In 2004 following in Reverend Ray Sr’s footsteps of servant leadership, the family donated the pervious home of the Ray family to Georgia Military College where it was converted into the field house at Couch Field. GMC honored Reverend Ray Sr. by naming the once home the Horace Ray Field House. Today it is used by GMC Prep School athletes.
The Montford Point Marines were the first Black Americans to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps after President Franklin Roosevelt issued an Executive Order establishing the Fair Employment Practices Commission in June 1941. The recruits trained at the segregated Camp Montford Point near Jacksonville, North Carolina. On February 19, 1945, Black Marines of the 8th Ammunition Company and the 36th Depot Company landed on the island of Iwo Jima. The largest number of black Marines to serve in combat during World War II took part in the seizure of Okinawa, with approximately 2,000 seeing action.
Approximately 20,000 Black Marines trained at the Camp Montford Point from 1942 – 1949 and to date only about 3000 of those Marines have been located to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Mr. Horace Ray was honorably discharged from Camp Montford Point in February 1946 and has been verified as being one of those Marines.
