Major General (Ret.) Gray W. Harrison, Jr. is a native of Scobey, Mississippi. He entered Mississippi State College in the fall of 1943. As a freshman, he entered into the Mississippi State Army ROTC program. In 1944, General Gray W. Harrison, Jr. was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was trained at Camp Fannin, Texas as a rifleman. He was later trained as a wireman and an intermediate speed radio operator. He was an honor graduate of the Communication Officer- Chief course at Ft. Benning, Georgia. In the fall of 1946, General Harrison re-entered the advanced ROTC program where he commissioned into the Coast Artillery Corps in1948.
General Harrison’s first duty station was with the United States Army Reserve unit in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He then transferred to the Mississippi Army National Guard. As a Guardsman, he served in A Battery, 114th Field Artillery Battalion, 31st Infantry Division. When mobilized for the Korean War with this unit, he was a 1st Lieutenant and the Battery A Commander.
In 1951, Major General (Ret.) Harrison graduated Field Artillery Battery Grade Officer’s Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Not long after returning, he was assigned to Far East Command as an individual replacement at the 63rd Field Artillery Battalion, 34th Regimental Combat Team, 24th Infantry Division.
General Harrison was released from active duty in December of 1952 and susequently returned to the Mississippi Army National Guard. In the Guard, he served as Battalion S-3 and Battalion Commander of the 114 FA BN. He also served as 31st Division Artillery S-3, 631st Field Artillery Group Commander, Commander of the 31st Rear Area Operations Center, and Commander of the 31st Support Center.
In 1980, General Harrison was appointed Assistant Adjutant General of the Mississippi Army National Guard by Governor William Winter. He was also nominated by President Reagan and confirmed by the United States Senate as a Brigadier General. In 1983, Governor Winter appointed General Harrison as the Adjutant General and he was promoted to Major General. He retired from the National Guard in 1984 and from the Army of the United States in 1986.
Still working in public service, General Harrison was a Regional Director for the American Red Cross and served on the Red Cross National Board of Governors for six years. General Harrison Resides in the Jackson, Mississippi area.