Benefit fund established for soldier from Penobscot badly hurt in Iraq

A benefit fund has been established for a soldier who was critically injured in Iraq and for his wife.

Wives of the Maine Army National Guard’s 133rd Engineer Battalion started the Sgt. Harold Gray Benefit Fund at Seaboard Federal Credit Union in Bucksport.

Gray, 34, of Penobscot, is one of three members of the unit who were injured when insurgents attacked their convoy last month in Mosul.

Staff Sgt. Brian Wilson of Dixmont and Spc. James H. Kendall IV of Castine suffered minor injuries and were returned to duty after being treated by medical personnel.

Gray’s injuries were more severe, and he remains in the intensive-care unit at a U.S. military hospital.

Gray underwent six hours of neurosurgery in Iraq before being stabilized and flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. After doctors concluded that he was stable enough to travel, the soldier was flown back to the United States for further treatment.

Members of Gray’s family, including his wife, mother and father, have joined him at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and are staying at the hospital’s guest facilities.

In addition, three members of the Maine National Guard went to visit Gray last Thursday.

“The purpose for the visit was to provide some level of support to the family and to Sergeant Gray,” Adjutant Gen. John Libby, commander of the Maine Army National Guard, said Tuesday.

Gray suffered injuries to both eyes and to his left arm and has shrapnel in his brain and chest, according to his father, George Gray.

At last report, the sergeant remained in an induced coma to allow his brain to rest.

“He clearly [was] unconscious,” Libby said.

The soldiers, however, were able to sit in Gray’s room and visit with the family, Libby said.

“This is a very difficult time for [Gray’s family], and I couldn’t characterize them in any other way than to say that they’re grieving,” Libby said. “They’re hopeful, as we all are, for Harold’s early and complete recovery.”

Libby said he knew Gray personally, as both have been in the Guard for “a long time.” They also were in the engineer community together, the general said.

Sgt. Maj. Paul Luce, who went to Walter Reed with Libby, also knows Gray personally. Gray used to be Luce’s driver before Luce was promoted.

Libby and the two other soldiers also visited last week with another Maine soldier who was at Walter Reed for treatment.

Staff Sgt. Harold Freeman Jr. of Gorham, who has since returned to Maine, was at the hospital for treatment of injuries he received in a suicide bombing in Mosul. The December insurgent attack injured one other Maine soldier and killed two others.

Donations for Gray should be sent to the Sgt. Harold Gray Benefit Fund, c/o Seaboard Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box G, Bucksport 04416.