By MELANIE POOLE / Special to the Reporter

The Veteran of the Week is sponsored by the National Veterans Shrine and Register of Honor at the American Village — honoring America’s veterans and telling the stories of their service and sacrifice for the cause of liberty.

“The American Village is pleased to join the Shelby County Reporter in recognizing Seaman Morris Edwin Ray as Veteran of the Week,” American Village founder and CEO Tom Walker said. “He is representative of the hundreds of thousands of Alabamians who have risked it all for the sake of our country and its freedom. To all veterans we owe a debt we can never fully repay.”

Visit the website, Veteransregisterofhonor.com, today and add your loved ones to the Register of Honor. Help us honor, recognize, respect and remember our country’s veterans.

Here are highlights about this week’s Veteran of the Week: Morris E. Ray was born in Slap Out in Elmore County in 1926. He was the fourth son of Flora Lee and Clyde Ray to enter World War II. Morris was drafted into the United States Navy in December 1944. Boot camp was in Memphis, Tenn., and from there he was sent to San Diego, Calif., where he was assigned to the AFT/100 U.S.S. Chowanac tugboat. He was Seaman 1st Class and a 20mm gunner. The Chowanac transported supplies between islands in the South Pacific, including Guam, the Philippines, Okinawa and Kwajalein. Seaman Ray served from 1944 to 1946. He now resides in Huntsville.

Melanie Poole is Communications Officer for the American Village and can be reached at MPoole@americanvillage.org.