Paul Ray Mays was born in Pickton, Hopkins County, Texas on 6 October 1916. He enlisted in the Army Air Corp, U S Army in Dallas, Texas on 28 October 1941 at the age of 25 years. Prior to this he worked in the oil business and did some farm work. He had 11 years of formal education. He took some of his training at Kessler Field, MS. He completed core training in Aircraft Mechanics.



By 31 July 1942, he was serving as the Crew Chief on a B-17 AC number 41-9091 stationed at Camp Biggs Field, El Paso, Texas with the 303rd Bomb Group, 427th Bomber Squadron training for deployment overseas. On 23 August 1942 this B-17 while on a training mission was struck by lighting and severe weather conditions near Las Cruces, NM. This aircraft crashed and was damaged so severely that it was beyond repair. Of the ten members of the crew, only two, the radio operator and the flight engineer were able to bail out and survive. This unit shipped out on 24 August 1942 for New York City where it was transported to the UK on the Queen Mary Cruise ship.



Sergeant Mays was assigned to the 8th Air Force, 306 Bomber Group, 368 Bomber Squadron stationed at Thurleigh Air Field near [5 miles North] Bedford, England upon arrival. He was promoted to Master Sergeant during his tour of duty at Thurleigh. He completed his tour and returned to the US on the Queen Mary Ship arriving in New York City on 19 September 1945. He was discharged from the US military at Fort Sam Houston, Texas on 18 October 1945. He passed away 28 June 1987 in Desoto, Dallas County, Texas.