justaskscot has raised the issues of where to find relevant military
records for Sonny Gray and also how to obtain more information
regarding the Tchula property owned by the Mississippi Sonny Gray.  I
would be interested in both those pieces of information.

Hello ridley-ga,

At the outset, here is the record for Sonny Gray from Mississippi on
FamilySearch, which I believe is the same as the record you found on
the Ancestry web site.

"Individual Record: Sonny Gray"
FamilySearch
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/SSDI/individual_record.asp?recid=426169460

The record of property co-owned by a Sonny Gray in Tchula, Mississippi
comes from a list of unclaimed property from the Mississippi Treasury
Department.

"Unclaimed: G's -- Gray, Mary Lue to Green, Misty" [scroll down to
"Gray, Sonny"]
Mississippi Treasury Department
http://www.treasury.state.ms.us/unclaim/16_12.htm

The holder of the property is listed as "Southern Farm Bureau Cas".  I
believe that this is the Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance
Company.  You might want to contact the company to determine whether
they have information that would help you determine whether this
property was co-owned by Sonny Gray, your father.

"Contact Us"
Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company
http://www.sfbcic.com/ContactUs.asp

Military records for Army personnel after June 1917 are available from
the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri.

"Access to Military Service and Pension Records"
U.S. National Archives & Records Administration (NARA)
http://www.archives.gov/research_room/obtain_copies/veterans_service_records.html

Many of the Official Military Personnel Files were destroyed by fire
in 1973.  However, the NPRC uses alternate sources -- including
medical records from the time that your father served in the Army --
to reconstruct information in the records that were destroyed.  (It is
possible, of course, that your father's records were among the 20%
that still exist in their original form.)

"National Personnel Records Center (St. Louis, MO) - The 1973 Fire"
NARA
http://www.archives.gov/facilities/mo/st_louis/military_personnel_records/fire_1973.html

"Alternate Record Sources"
NARA
http://www.archives.gov/facilities/mo/st_louis/military_personnel_records/alternate_record_sources.html

The following pages explain how to submit a request for military
personnel records as a next-of-kin or as a member of the public.

"Request Copies of Military Personnel Records"
NARA
http://www.archives.gov/research_room/vetrecs/

"National Personnel Records Center (St. Louis, MO) - Military Record
Requests
(SF 180)"
http://www.archives.gov/facilities/mo/st_louis/military_personnel_records/standard_form_180.html

Lastly, I had forgotten to mention that I had a possible clue as to
the parents of Sonny Gray, which may help you (or another Researcher)
in your search.  There are two men named Gray in the following list
who got married in 1910 and 1915 respectively in Holmes County,
Mississippi (the county in which Tchula is located).  Assuming that
Sonny Gray was from Holmes County, this suggests that one of the two
couples might have been Sonny Gray's parents.

"Holmes Co MS Marriages - Groom Index" [scroll down to "Gray, George"
and "Gray, Thomas"]
Melba's Southern Families, by Melba Goff Allen
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Trail/1262/Marriages-Holmes.html

I hope that this information helps you to find records for your
father.  Good luck in your search.

- justaskscott-ga


Search terms used on Google:

"gray sonny" mississippi
"southern farm bureau"
"military records"
"holmes county" mississippi gray

[I searched for other terms as well, but these were the terms that
resulted in the pages mentioned in this answer.]

I also browsed the NARA web pages.

justaskscott did a great job and supplied me with more information
than I had expected.  He is obviously a professional.

Regards         Ridley.