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POINT PLEASANT BEACH — Alfred M. Gray – a four-star general and 29th commandant of the Marine Corps, and a Point Pleasant Beach High School graduate – has died at the age of 95.
The general, whose service in the Marine Corps spanned over 40 years, died at his home in Alexandria, Virginia on Wednesday, March 20. He served as the Marine Corps commandant — the branch’s highest-ranking officer — from July 1, 1987 to June 30, 1991, when he retired.
Upon news of his death, 39th commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric M. Smith sent a notice that “All Marine Corps Installations will half-mast the National Ensign” [the American flag that identifies a ship’s nationality] … until the day of the interment or [seven] days, whichever is less.
Gen. Gray was born on June 22, 1928 in Point Pleasant Beach and enlisted in the Marines in 1950 after dropping out of college to fight in Korea. There, he served “as a radio operator with the Amphibious Reconnaissance Platoon, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific,” according to a release from the USMC mourning his death.
Sgt. Bob Ryan of Point Pleasant, who also served in the Marine Corps, met Gen. Gray on many occasions, calling him a “friend of the family” since the 1940s.
“My grandmother’s brother moved to Point Pleasant-Bricktown right after the Second World War,” said Sgt. Ryan. “He was working at [Naval Air Engineering Station] Lakehurst, and…their daughter, Jackie, went to high school with the general.”
Sgt. Ryan also said that one of the general’s high school football teammates, George “Peanut” Hulse, was a good friend of his cousin. During his time as a student at Point Pleasant Beach High School, Gen. Gray played a full slate of sports in addition to football — he was on the basketball and baseball teams, as well.
“Later, my family wound up living next door to George,” he said. Sgt. Ryan explained that his second cousin had even dated the general at one point during their youth. “They would always go out together…they met the family, and the families have been friends ever since.”
The USMC statement said, “Over the next 41 years, Gray established a legacy of heroism in combat, deploying eight times to lead Marines in dangerous missions — several of them clandestine. Gray earned the distinction of leading the first independent ground operations by a Marine unit in Vietnam while commanding a composite unit of signals intelligence Marines supported by attached infantry.”
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