Rank: Specialist 4
Unit: C Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 11B – Infantryman
Awards: Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device and Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart Medal, Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Badges: Combat Infantryman Badge
Unit awards: Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Enlisted by: Selected Service
Date of birth: 3-Jun-1948
Hometown: Charlottesville, Virginia
Marital status: Never Married
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Entered service: 4-Dec-1968
Start of tour: 1-Jun-1969
Incident date: 14-Feb-1970
Date of casualty: 14-Feb-1970
Age at death: 21
Cause of death: Hostile, died. Burns/Smoke Inhalation. Burns.
Wayne Dabney McRay was killed while a gunner on a military vehicle on a military mission when a hostile force was encountered. / Gunner on Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle (ACAV) on reconnaissance mission. Engaged hostile for in firefight. / Vehicle received a direct hit from an enemy rocket propelled grenade (RPG).
Three Blackhorse troopers died in this incident:
SP5 Samuel Joseph Jorgensen
SP4 Wayne Dabney McRay
SFC Clarence C. Young
Location of fatality: Tay Ninh, South Vietnam, XT 256 693
Place of interment: Holly Memorial Gardens, Hollymead, Virginia, USA
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BRONZE STAR MEDAL
WITH VALOR DEVICE AND OAK LEAF CLUSTER
POSTHUMOUS
SPECIALIST FOUR WAYNE DABNEY McRAY
14 FEBRUARY 1970
C TROOP, 1st SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
Specialist Four McRay distinguished himself by heroism in connection with ground operations against a hostile force on 14 February 1970 while serving as a gunner with Troop C, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, in the Republic of Vietnam. On this date his troop was engaged with a large North Vietnamese Army force. Specialist McRay provided a heavy barrage of suppressive fire for the infantry unit attached to his troop. Exposing himself to hostile fire, he continued to engage the enemy, giving the troop the only rear security available. He exposed himself again and again to search for enemy positions and to direct his tank commander to positions from which he could effectively engage the enemy. Specialist McRay’s devotion to duty prevented the enemy from gaining any advantage by an attack upon the rear of the troop. Specialist Four McRay’s actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.
Headquarters, II Field Force Vietnam General Orders No. 1213 (28 March 1970)