Robert H. Gray was born in Apollo, Pennsylvania on 31 August 1883. His father Samuel, a Civil War veteran, moved the family to Lake City, Michigan in 1885; Robert attended local schools there. He attended medical school at the Chicago School of Medicine and graduated in 1908. He then began practicing in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he boarded with the Herbert Partridge family. He met Herbert's daughter, Norma, whom he would later marry. He received a commission as a 1st Lieutenant, Medical Corps for the Wisconsin National Guard in April 1914. In July 1917 he was drafted into federal service along with the rest of the Wisconsin National Guard, and soon thereafter was sent to Camp MacArthur in Waco, Texas. Stationed there in the aftermath of the Mexican Border War, Gray's unit affiliation changed several times as the 32nd Division reorganized; he went from the medical corps of the 3rd Wisconsin Infantry to the 6th Wisconsin Infantry to the 57th Depot Brigade to, finally, the 107th Ammunition Train. During his time in Texas, Gray was promoted to the rank of major. In January and February 1918, the 32nd Division was shipped to Europe. Gray arrived in England on 16 February and in France one week later. As part of the 107th Ammunition Train, Gray stayed with the 32nd Division throughout the majority of the war. After the armistice ended the war, Gray's unit remained in Germany with the occupation force. He left Europe on 1 May and returned to the United States on 13 May. He served briefly at Camp Grant (Illinois) and Camp D.A. Russell (Wyoming) before being discharged in October 1919. While home on leave, Gray married Norma Partridge on 3 June 1919; the couple had three children and settled in La Crosse. He continued to work in the medical field, private practice, until a heart attack led him to retire in 1944. In 1956 Gray and his wife moved to Onalaska, Wisconsin, where he passed away on 15 February 1964.
