Grady Pitts Priest was born on March 1, 1914, in his parents' cabin at McEwen, Tennessee. He was the fourth of nine children belonging to Edward and Dora Priest. Grady grew up in the western part of Tennessee, living in Humphreys, Gibson, and Dyer Counties. He attended eight years of elementary school, then worked as a farmer and salesman.
In February 1942 he received his notice to report for induction into the US Army. Leaving his home on the family farm near Trimble, Tennessee he entered active military service on March 8, 1942, at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Grady felt strongly that it was not his place to take another human's life and hoped to serve in a non-combatant role as a medic, but despite his refusal to carry a weapon against another human being those in charge of deciding where he was assigned denied his request to join the Medical Corps and instead assigned him to the Service Company of the 33rd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division at Camp Polk, Louisiana. On May 2, 1942, he was transferred to Service Company, 40th Armored Regiment, 7th Armored Division, also at Camp Polk, where he became a truck driver. With the reorganization of the 7th Armored Division on September 20, 1943, Grady became a member of Company B, 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia.
He continued to attempt to convince those in command to allow him to become a medic and his persistence finally paid off, on October 18, 1943, he was moved to the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion's Medical Detachment. January 5th, 1944 he left the battalion for a few weeks to attend Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School in Springfield, Missouri. He rejoined his unit on January 28 and went on to serve as first a litter bearer and then a combat medic.
Following training in the US, Grady sailed from New York Harbor with the rest of the 7th Armored Division for the UK aboard the Queen Mary on June 7, 1944, and spent most of the next two months in England before sailing for France on August 9, 1944. He and the rest of his company disembarked at Omaha Beach on August 11.
Grady died after stepping on an anti-personnel mine while attempting to rescue a wounded soldier. He had heard the man crying for help and went out to offer him assistance, only to discover that the wounded soldier was one of the very men who disliked him so much because of his beliefs and was always spitting at him. Nevertheless, Grady treated him with the kindness he gave to all his patients, rendered first aid, and being as the man couldn't walk, got him slung over his back and was carrying him back to where the man could be transported for further medical treatment when he stepped on the mine. The wounded man was thrown free of the blast and survived, but Grady suffered catastrophic injuries to his body and limbs, including the amputation of his left leg and arm, and was killed instantly. His body had absorbed much of the force of the explosion along with the deadly shrapnel, helping to protect the injured man. Grady was 30 years old at the time of his death. His parents received the dreaded telegram on November 26, notifying them that their beloved son had been killed.
T/5 Priest was initially buried in the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium and was later repatriated. His final resting place is in the Memphis National Cemetery, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, USA.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com