Ray Puglia Biography

Ray Puglia Biography

Andrew Serafim

Eng 111

4/9/13

          Ray Carmine Puglia’s life cannot be summed up easily as one might think. Who was Ray Puglia? What did he enjoy? How did he live? These are all questions that are asked to find the answers of who Ray was. After carefully sifting through some of Ray’s belongings, evidence has come together to give us a small clip of who was behind the name, who was behind the artifacts.

          Ray Carmine Puglia was born on May 10^th 1915 into an Italian Catholic family. His faith stays with him throughout all of his experiences in life. Ray was patriotic and served his country for many years of his life. Enlisting into the Marine Corp before World War II Ray was a part of the “Dog Company”, which was a Battalion of the 24^th Marines focused on heavy weapons.  Ray also went on to serve during the Korean War and the Vietnam War which had heavy influences on his way of life. During these wars Ray received two purple hearts for his commitment to helping others.

          Ray was married to Eva Stavler, who was 21 years his senior. Eva was also a part of the military. She enlisted into the Naval Reserves in 1918. Ray and Eva lived many places throughout their lives including Philadelphia and later Jacksonville NC until Eva passed away on April 17^th 1969. Ray remarried later to Elizabeth Johnson and raised a family with her until he passed away from lung cancer.

          These small glimpses into the life of Ray help us to connect with him through some of his most personal and life changing events. Hardly does this sum up every detail of Ray’s life but is more of an overview into what he dealt with. The evidence clearly supports the notion that Ray Puglia was a caring friend, enthusiastic for life and patriotic towards his country.