Finding Phillip
This post will go hand in hand with my last, 'Louis Barra in Saipan.' I concentrated more on Lousi himself on that one, but this is my search to find the owner of the other photo, of a Phillip Rey. I know only a few things; he woud have been in the same Army unit as Louis (my cousin) and Jerry Olivera's (owner of the photo) dad. On the photo Mr Olivera scrawled Phillip Rey - KY Killed in (?) We assumed he was killed in Saipan, but his name isn't on any of the records of KIA there, nor could Mr Olivera find his name on the Wall. I've taken to facebook for help searching, and today I'm doing some digging. Just on the offchance I find something, this will kind of just chronicle the methods I use.
I started with a search on the WWII KIA/WIA list and found nothing under army.
I went to ancestry.com and searched, finding a Phillip Ray on a 1940 census, living in Detroit but being born in Kentucky 1922, in his Freshman year in high school living with parents Garfield and Jenny. Probably not him, but I'm making a notation of it.
Go to Find A Grave, always lots of info there. I found a Phillip Haskle Ray, 1922-1997 with this obit (unfortunately it doesnt show birth state)
Phillip H. Ray, died January 31, 1997 in Fordyce, Ark. Born October 6, 1922, he was the son of the late John L. and Ethyl Randol Ray.
On June 12, 1946, he was united in marriage to Aletha Owens.
In 1966, after serving 24 years with the U.S. Air Force, he retired as a Senior Master Sergeant. In 1989, after 21 years with the U.S. Postal Service, he retired as Wardell Postmaster.
Survivors include: his wife, Aletha Ray of Wardell, Mo.; two daughters, Vicki Nunnery of Piggott, Ark. and Patty Rudder of Kingsland, Ark.; two sisters, Lydia Vaughn of Mansfield, Ohio and Georgia Lee Duvall of Mansfield, Ohio; two grandsons, Jon and Scoot Rudder of Kingsland, Ark. and many nieces and nephews.
Services were held February 3, 1997 at the Wardell Baptist Church with Rev. Kevin Carter officiating. Burial was in the Dunklin County Memorial Gardens in Kennett, Mo.
Democrat Argus - Caruthersville, Missouri - February 5, 1997
I know Phillip would have been in the Army, but if I search Phillip Haskle Ray on ancestry it does show an Army enlistment for him, with an Enlistment date of Jan 25, 1946, enlisting in Shelbyville IN into the Air Corps. He was enlisted as a technical sergeant for the Hawaiian Department. Now I was told they were int he same unit, and I'm pretty certain Louis was Army, but maybe they were just friends and not actually in the same unit? I wonder now if all branches of the military are sent to the same place. I know there's only one barracks on Oahu, so they'd almost have to be. Under "component" in says "regular Army." I'm not sure what that means, but it's relevant.
Someone has a pic of Phillip Haskal Ray, in his uniform, with his brothers. Here's that photo side by side with the one I have. Phil is the one in uniform in the first pic.
With the hat on it's hard to tell, but that swagger is pretty close LOL. My scanned pic is so small I just can't tell.
The search continues.
Under military records I found Phillip Eugene Rhea, born 1921 from Kenton Kentucky (finally one from KY!) who enlisted 12 Dec 1940, into the Coast Artillary Corps/Army Mine Planter Service. I don't know what that is but he was also sent to Hawaii. This to me looks the most promising.
Opening another document it has all his vitals:
Born 10 Sep 1921
Enlisted 12 Dec 1940 and released 15 Sep 1945
Enlisted again 21 Jan 1947 and released 31 Jul 1967
He died 1 Feb 2005
I wonder if "our" Phillip was just wounded and Mr Olivera lost track of him and thought he had died?
If the above Phillip Rhea is our guy, it's a bit ironic, as he died in Largo, Pinellas, FL, which is less than 45 minutes away from me. His gravesite details on Find A Grave mention W4 US Air Force, WWII, Korea, Vietnam. Quite the guy.
The problem here is I don't see where he ever married or had children, so if this is our guy, its a dead end, and I find no images of him either. Unfortunately nothing else looks even remotely promising.
I started with a search on the WWII KIA/WIA list and found nothing under army.
I went to ancestry.com and searched, finding a Phillip Ray on a 1940 census, living in Detroit but being born in Kentucky 1922, in his Freshman year in high school living with parents Garfield and Jenny. Probably not him, but I'm making a notation of it.
Go to Find A Grave, always lots of info there. I found a Phillip Haskle Ray, 1922-1997 with this obit (unfortunately it doesnt show birth state)
Phillip H. Ray, died January 31, 1997 in Fordyce, Ark. Born October 6, 1922, he was the son of the late John L. and Ethyl Randol Ray.
On June 12, 1946, he was united in marriage to Aletha Owens.
In 1966, after serving 24 years with the U.S. Air Force, he retired as a Senior Master Sergeant. In 1989, after 21 years with the U.S. Postal Service, he retired as Wardell Postmaster.
Survivors include: his wife, Aletha Ray of Wardell, Mo.; two daughters, Vicki Nunnery of Piggott, Ark. and Patty Rudder of Kingsland, Ark.; two sisters, Lydia Vaughn of Mansfield, Ohio and Georgia Lee Duvall of Mansfield, Ohio; two grandsons, Jon and Scoot Rudder of Kingsland, Ark. and many nieces and nephews.
Services were held February 3, 1997 at the Wardell Baptist Church with Rev. Kevin Carter officiating. Burial was in the Dunklin County Memorial Gardens in Kennett, Mo.
Democrat Argus - Caruthersville, Missouri - February 5, 1997
I know Phillip would have been in the Army, but if I search Phillip Haskle Ray on ancestry it does show an Army enlistment for him, with an Enlistment date of Jan 25, 1946, enlisting in Shelbyville IN into the Air Corps. He was enlisted as a technical sergeant for the Hawaiian Department. Now I was told they were int he same unit, and I'm pretty certain Louis was Army, but maybe they were just friends and not actually in the same unit? I wonder now if all branches of the military are sent to the same place. I know there's only one barracks on Oahu, so they'd almost have to be. Under "component" in says "regular Army." I'm not sure what that means, but it's relevant.
Someone has a pic of Phillip Haskal Ray, in his uniform, with his brothers. Here's that photo side by side with the one I have. Phil is the one in uniform in the first pic.
The search continues.
Under military records I found Phillip Eugene Rhea, born 1921 from Kenton Kentucky (finally one from KY!) who enlisted 12 Dec 1940, into the Coast Artillary Corps/Army Mine Planter Service. I don't know what that is but he was also sent to Hawaii. This to me looks the most promising.
Opening another document it has all his vitals:
Born 10 Sep 1921
Enlisted 12 Dec 1940 and released 15 Sep 1945
Enlisted again 21 Jan 1947 and released 31 Jul 1967
He died 1 Feb 2005
I wonder if "our" Phillip was just wounded and Mr Olivera lost track of him and thought he had died?
If the above Phillip Rhea is our guy, it's a bit ironic, as he died in Largo, Pinellas, FL, which is less than 45 minutes away from me. His gravesite details on Find A Grave mention W4 US Air Force, WWII, Korea, Vietnam. Quite the guy.
The problem here is I don't see where he ever married or had children, so if this is our guy, its a dead end, and I find no images of him either. Unfortunately nothing else looks even remotely promising.
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