"I loved the Navy. I still do," comments Raymond. Born in Laurel, Mississippi, he moved to Shreveport as a teenager to work at the bus station by night and attend high school by day. Raymond enlisted in October of 1942, and was trained at gyro compass school. He served aboard the USS John D. Edwards (DD-216), a destroyer in support of operations in Europe. Later, he was transferred to the USS Amsterdam (CL-101), which supported ground troops in shore bombardments in several island campaigns. After Japan surrendered, he went ashore in Yokahama. "We didn't see any people our age. They were all dead," he comments of the Japanese population. Raymond was discharged with the rank of petty officer, second class. He remained in the Navy reserves and was called up in the Korean War. After years of service as an enlisted man Raymond was commissioned as an ensign and then retired in the early 1970s as a lieutenant.