October Legends and Americana Ending November 14th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/15/2015
The morning of December 7th, 1941 seemed like any other lazy Sunday in
the tropical paradise of Hawaii. By nightfall, the bulk of the United
States' Pacific Fleet lay at the bottom of Pearl Harbor and the nation
had been pushed into a war the size of which the world had never seen.
Among the 2,471 Americans who died that Sunday morning was Harry Joseph
Ray, Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class aboard the U.S.S. Arizona.
Harry Ray was from San Bernardino, California and joined the Navy in
1926 at age 17. His first ship was the U.S.S. Mississippi, a World War I
battleship stationed on the West Coast. While there he married Dorothy
Agnes and set up house in Long Beach, California. When the Mississippi
was dry-docked for a major overhaul in 1931, Seaman First Class Ray was
transferred to the U.S.S. Arizona. The Arizona had just completed the
modernization that the Mississippi was under going and was the Navy's
most advanced dreadnaught. Ray joined the ship's company in time to
participate in a massive war game exercise held in Hawaiian waters in
February 1932. Called "Fleet Problem XIII" the exercise showed how
carrier based aircraft could successfully attack the U.S. Fleet at Pearl
Harbor. In an eerie coincidence, Fleet Problem XIII was held on Sunday
morning, 7th of February.
In 1933 the Ray's family expanded to include a daughter named Helen.
Meanwhile Ray steadily climbed up the ranks, re-enlisting four times and
staying aboard the Arizona which was based in San Pedro, a short drive
from the Ray's home in Long Beach. By the time of his forth enlistment
in December of 1940 Ray was a Coxswain, navy term for a man rated to
handle an open boat small enough to be carried aboard a larger vessel
such as a motor launch. Three months after re-enlisting the Arizona was
ordered to its new station: Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. For
several years the United States and Japan had been sliding towards
conflict. Japan's barbaric invasion of China had outraged the world and
sinking of the gunboat U.S.S. Panay on a Sunday morning in 1937 killed
several American sailors. It was only a matter of time before the two
nations were at war and the navy began consolidating the Pacific Fleet
in Pearl Harbor.
In the summer of 1941 Harry Ray was promoted to Boatswain's Mate 2nd
Class. He was aboard ship the morning of December 7th when he and 1,177
of his shipmates went down with the Arizona. This incredible archive
traces the military life of Harry Ray. Ray's entire career unfolds
before us on three double-sided Continuous Service Certificate pages,
from his enlistment in Louisville, Kentucky in 1926 through its last
entry on June 16, 1941 when he made Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class. You can
see Ray go from a young sailor whose conduct was a bit checkered in the
early years (he's rated a 15 out of a possible 40 in 1929!) to a
dependable veteran on the Arizona with consistent 40 ratings in both
conduct and leadership. One is able to put a face on all the paperwork
with a 2 3/4" x 4 1/2" snapshot of Harry Ray on a family vacation at
Lake Elsinore. Posing on a mountain top, Ray looks every inch the
veteran sailor. His Honorable Discharge certificate is dated 17
December, 1940 and lists the U.S.S. Arizona as his ship. Dorothy and
Helen Ray's Dependent Identification Certificate card is included, dated
"10-23-41". In less than two months Harry Ray would die in America's
first battle of World War II.
Perhaps the most heart wrenching piece of this collection are two
telegrams. The first is a December 20, 1941 Western Union telegram
notifying Mrs. Ray that her husband is missing in action. It is sad to
think that Ray's family had to wait almost two agonizing weeks before
the Navy acknowledged Harry's status. It is even more poignant to think
that thousand of other families would received the same sad telegram.
The second telegram is dated February 3, 1942 and tells Mrs. Ray that
the Navy had been unable to locate the remains of her husband and
officially declares him "lost". The lack of remains infers that
Boatswain 2nd Class Harry Ray was among the sailors entombed within the
hull of the Arizona where they remain to this day. In an undated letter
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox personally acknowledged Ray's
sacrifice, reading in part "he made the supreme sacrifice upholding the
highest traditions of the Navy, in defense of his country". Ray's
sacrifice was further recognized with a posthumous Purple Heart, its 9
3/4" x 12" engraved certificate listing the date of December 7, 1941. A
12" x 14 3/4" memorial certificate "In grateful memory of Harry Joseph
Ray" bears a printed signature of Franklin Roosevelt with a full color
embossed seal of the United States. The final component is the Navy
Department's 1947 letter authorizing the posthumous award of the
American Defense Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. These twelve
pieces represent one sailor and his family's sacrifice in opening battle
of the toughest war this nation has faced and Goldin Auctions is honored
to be entrusted with the legacy of this incredible archive.
This lot has a Reserve Price that has not been met.