Raymond Ketchum
2017
After a 30-year Army career that took him and his family to Europe and Asia, Ray Ketchum and his wife Gwen settled in Stamford in 1987, where Gwen was born and raised.
Ray attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Upon graduating in 1957, he began his military career at Ft. Monmouth, N.J., as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Signal Corps. Early assignments were with the 50th Airborne Battalion at Ft. Bragg, N.C., and as a radio frequency engineer in the Pentagon and in Heidelberg, Germany. In 1967, Ray deployed to Vietnam as an executive officer for the 44th
Signal Battalion. Following the 1968 Tet offensive, he oversaw the building of the Pacification Support Management Center used to coordinate the reconstruction of South Vietnam. Ray returned to the United States in 1969 to command the 57th Signal Battalion at Ft. Hood Tex., and then was assigned to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations at the Pentagon.
He went on to command the Defense Communications Agency Northwest Pacific Region, responsible for operations in Okinawa, mainland Japan and Korea. On his promotion to Colonel, Ray was reassigned to Ft. Monroe, Va., serving as Combat Developments Director for Telecommunications, Command & Control Systems. From there he served as Brigade Command at Ft. Gordon, Ga., and at Ft. Monmouth, N.J., where he retired as Deputy Commander. Among Ray’s commendations are the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters and the Vietnam Service Medal with five campaign stars.
But Ray didn’t really retire! After settling in Stamford, he worked for an executive search firm placing military members in jobs, was board chair of for two Methodist churches and currently is the President of Learning in Retirement, Inc. Ray and Gwen have two children and five grandchildren.