Insignia of 95th Bombardment Squadron, worn by Gray during Doolittle Raid
Gray was born in Killeen on May 24, 1919. He graduated from Killeen High School where he was a football player for the Kangaroos.[3] He attended Tarleton College (now Tarleton State University) participated in the Reserve Officer's Training Corps and earned his pilot's license. He also attended Texas A&M known then as Texas A.M.C.
In June 1940, he left college to attend the US Air Corps’ Aviation Cadet Program at Kelly Field[3] in San Antonio and in 1941 was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and a B-25 bomber pilot.[2] After graduation, he was first assigned to the 34th Bomb Squadron and then transferred to the 95th Bombardment Squadron of 17th Bombardment Group at McChord Field, Washington flying anti-submarine patrols. Gray's crew was one of 24 crews picked by Lt. Col. James Doolittle to fly off the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) on April 18, 1942. His, bomber, the Whiskey Pete was the third to take off[3] and bombed targets in Tokyo and the crew flew to China and bailed out due to a lack of fuel. Gray was promoted to Captain and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Chinese Armed Forces Medal.[2] All of Gray's crew survived the mission, except Corporal Leland Dale Faktor, their engineer-gunner, was killed in the jump.
The other crew members of the Whiskey Pete included: navigator 2nd Lt. Charles Ozuk, bombardier Sgt. Aden Jones, and co-pilot 2nd Lt. Jacob Manch.[2]
After the raid, Captain Gray would be assigned to the China-Burma-India Theater and fly out of India. He was killed on Oct. 18, 1942, when his B-25 bomber crashed in a combat mission over Assam.
In 1942, Killeen mayor R.T. Polk declared April 18 Bob Gray Day and every mayor since has done so on an annual basis.[4] Gray Street in Killeen was also renamed in his honor.[5] Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9192 in Killeen is named the Bob Gray VFW Post.[6]
↑ LeRoy, Mervyn, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (Drama, History, War), Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Robert Walker, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), retrieved 2025-08-30
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