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Monday, Feb 6, 2023
7:30 pm
First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church
26 North Street, Medfield
At age 11, Richard Gray moved with his family from the Ozarks to California during the Depression…only to be relocated months later, after his father died at 35, to the home of an aunt and uncle in Iowa.
There, as a 16-year-old, he joined the National Guard band to earn money to help his family and to buy a clarinet. Little did he know that his small unit would soon be among the first US ground troops to go up against the Germans, taking on “Desert Fox” Rommel’s Afrika Korps.
Gray’s introduction to combat was in the Battle of Kasserine Pass in February 1943. The U.S. Army’s II Corps, under the incompetent Major General Lloyd Fredendall, were beaten, and Gray was wounded and taken prisoner. Fredendall was relieved of his command – sent back to Washington, D.C. – and promoted!
Richard’s proud son, Jonathan Gray of 87 North Street, Medfield, has been reenacting his father’s story for over 10 years, performing at schools, at scouting events in Medfield, and other Massachusetts locations. He will be performing it for the Medfield Historical Society on Monday, February 6, in the basement of the old meetinghouse, aka First Parish Unitarian Universalist church.
The presentation is free and open to the public. Mark your calendar!
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