When Roy Blakemore Grigsby was born on August 20, 1923, in Florence, Alabama, his father, Henry, was 31 and his mother, Zibra, was 32. He was educated in the Florence city schools and was employed by the Florence Cotton Mill and 100 Cab Company before his induction. He entered the service March 27, 1943, at Fort McClellan, and received training at Fort McPherson, Ga., Camp Rucker, and Fort Meade, Md. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a Private in the 478th Amphibious Truck Company. He was killed during the Exercise Tiger--one of the large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. This took place in April 1944 in Slapton Sands, Devon in the UK. An Allied naval convoy involved in the exercise was attacked by German submarines, and coordination and communication problems resulted in friendly fire deaths. At least 749 American servicemen were killed. Because of the impending invasion of Normandy, the incident was highly classified and the full story did not come out until years later after the war. Roy is now buried in Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom.