Ray Dykes

Ramond “Ray” Dykes Jr. (Feb. 3, 1922 – Feb. 28, 1943) was a U.S. Air Force veteran from New River killed in World War II.

See Also: Scott Countians killed in war

Biography

Born in Lee County, Ky. on Feb. 3, 1922, Ray Dykes was the son of Raymond Dykes and Ethel “Delta” Combs. After his father died in 1924, his mother remarried to Harvey Berlin Morton in 1925.

His siblings included Robert Lee Dykes (1920-1988), Elizabeth Ellen Ross (1926-2021) and Bessie Chloe Gustin (1928-1995). Robert Lee Dykes served in the U.S. Army during World War II and also during the Korean War.

The family lived in Harlan, Ky. when the 1930 census was taken, and had moved to Scott County by the 1940 census, living in the Low Gap community near New River.

World War II

Staff Sgt. Dykes enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 336th Bomber Squadron. He was killed on Feb. 28, 1943, when two bombers collided near Avon Park, Fla. during a training mission. A total of 11 airmen — all crew members aboard the two planes with the exception of one man who survived — were killed in the accident.

Sgt. Dykes was buried at Reed Cemetery at New River, where his mother and stepfather were later buried. He is listed on the VFW Post 5669 Memorial Wall in Oneida, the Scott County Veterans Memorial in Huntsville, and the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial in Knoxville.