David Robert Ray is one of two UT alumni upon whom the Congressional Medal of Honor has been conferred. Hospitalman Second Class Ray (Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Division) was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for valor on March 19, 1969, in the Quang Nam Province, Republic of Vietnam. The citation indicates that during the early morning hours, an estimated battalion-sized enemy force launched a determined attack against his battery’s position. The initial burst of enemy fire caused numerous casualties among the marines. Undaunted by the hostile fire, Ray moved from parapet to parapet, rendering emergency medical treatment to the wounded. He was seriously wounded himself but declined medical care and continued to care for the wounded, having sometimes to do battle himself in order to treat them. He was fatally wounded after he ran out of ammunition, and his final act of heroism was to protect the patient he was treating by throwing himself upon the wounded man when an enemy grenade exploded nearby. He also received the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the National Defense Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with star, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.
On November 19, 1977, a Spruance-class destroyer was named the USS David R. Ray at Ingall’s shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where it was constructed. The David R. Ray was officially retired from navy service in a ceremony on February 28, 2002, in Everett, Washington. It was placed in the mothball fleet in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton. An elementary school in his hometown and a highway in Warren County are also named in honor of David R. Ray.
Ray attended UT from fall 1963 through spring 1965 (he was an alumni scholarship holder) and transferred to Cumberland College in 1965. He returned to UT for winter quarter 1966 and withdrew during the quarter.