Year: 1934
Willie McCray was born on January 15, 1891, in North Carolina. Before entering military service, he worked as a plasterer, a skilled trade requiring both physical endurance and precision, and one common among working-class Americans of the early twentieth century. In July 1918, as the United States expanded its forces during World War I, McCray enlisted in the United States Army. He trained at Camp Jackson in South Carolina, one of the Army’s primary training centers during the war, before being assigned to Fort McDowell on Angel Island near San Francisco, California. The post served as a key processing and administrative center for soldiers deploying to and returning from Pacific and overseas assignments. McCray’s military service coincided with the final months of the war and the vast logistical effort required to mobilize, house, and demobilize troops. After the armistice, in January 1919, he relocated to Roanoke, Virginia, where he resumed civilian life and returned to work as a plasterer. Willie McCray died on February 4, 1934, and is buried at Old Lick Cemetery in Roanoke, Virginia. He is remembered as one of many Americans who stepped into military service during World War I, answered the nation’s call, and then quietly returned to the labor and community life that defined the era.
Notes / sources:Private Willie McCray is also documented through the Everyday Patriot Project