Service dates:       Sept '45 - Jul '67

Special Forces Prefix - 113.73 - 17 May '61

Co. C, 7th SFGA, Ft Bragg (TDY - Laos '62) '61 - '62

Co. D,1st SFGA, Okinawa (TDY - Vietnam '63) '63 - '64

Co. D, 7th SFGA, Ft Bragg 64 - '65 ?

5th SFGA, Vietnam '66 - '67

Some Photos of Ray

An avid reader, Ray Flaherty was born on August 6, 1927.  The oldest of nine children, he was raised in Boston where he attended public schools.  His education was interrupted by World War II and he served aboard ship with the Merchant Marine until he entered the U.S. Army in 1945.

During the Korean War he served with an Airborne Ranger Company and saw ground combat with Company L of the 15^th Infantry.  There he was awarded the Silver Star Medal, the Bronze Star Medal and his first Combat Infantryman’s Badge.

Ray served on Operation White Star in Laos with a Special Forces ‘A’ detachment from the 7^th Special Forces Group.  Later, he served in South Vietnam with an ‘A’ detachment from the 1^st Special Forces Group where he was awarded his second award of the Combat Infantryman’s Badge.  He returned once again to South Vietnam to serve with the 4^th Battalion, 173^rd Airborne Brigade and a ‘B’ Detachment of the 5^th Special Forces Group.

He retired from the army in 1967 as a Master Parachutist and resided in Florida.