Wilbert L. Gray was born on January 29, 1922 in Coraopolis, PA. His parents were Ora May Gray and Alonzo Gray. Sometime after his birth, his family moved to Butler, PA. He had seven siblings, Viola, Gladis, Alda, Charles, Idamay, Donald, and Clifford Gray. Gray completed elementary, middle, and one year of high school during his childhood. At the age of 19, Gray enlisted into the National Guard on February 17, 1941, and was listed as a single without dependents. Almost ten months later, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and America declared war on the Empire, subsequently involving itself in both the Pacific and Atlantic theatres of the war.