Like millions of Americans at the time, Gay chose to sign up for the coming war, leaving Texas A&M University. He tried to join the Army Air Corps as a pilot but was rejected for medical reasons. He then tried the United States Navy in early 1941. Gay completed flight training and was commissioned as an ensignin September 1941. He joined the newly formed Torpedo Squadron 8 under Lieutenant CommanderJohn Charles Waldron. He and his unit were aboard the aircraft carrier in April 1942 when Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle launched his raid on Tokyo. One week later, Hornet arrived at Pearl Harbor to join as part of Task Force 16 during the Battle of Midway. group, in front of his aircraft with his rear gunner, ARM3c George Arthur Field, while Hornet was in the Coral Sea, c. May 1942. During the Battle of Midway, Gay was the first of his squadron to take off from Hornet on June 4, 1942. Gay's unit found the Japanese carrier fleet and launched an attack without any fighter plane support. Although he was wounded and his radioman/gunner, Robert K. Huntington, was dying, Gay completed his torpedo attack on the Japanese aircraft carrier, but Sōryū evaded his torpedo. Rather than banking away from the ship and presenting a larger target to its anti-aircraft gunners, Gay continued in toward the carrier at low altitude. He then brought his Devastator into a tight turn as he approached the carrier's island, and flew aft along the flight deck's length, thus evading anti-aircraft fire. He later stated he had a "split second" thought of crashing into the Japanese aircraft he saw being serviced on the flight deck. With his aircraft still in relatively good condition, he decided to make for Hornet after clearing the Japanese carrier. However, five Mitsubishi A6M Zeros brought his aircraft down in a hail of machine gun and cannon fire, killing his rear gunner, ARM3c Robert K. Huntington. Exiting his aircraft, and floating in the ocean, he hid under his seat cushion for hours to avoid Japanese strafing attacks and witnessed the subsequent dive bombing attacks and sinking of three of the four Japanese aircraft carriers present. After dark, Gay felt it was safe to inflate his life raft. He was rescued by a Navy Consolidated PBY Catalina after spending over 30 hours in the water. Gay was later flown to , before being transferred home. Of the squadron's thirty pilots and radiomen, Gay was the only survivor. Gay later met with Admiral Nimitz and confirmed the destruction of three Japanese carriers he had witnessed –, and Sōryū. He was featured in the August 31, 1942 issue of Life magazine. Following Midway, Gay took part in the Guadalcanal Campaign with Torpedo Squadron 11, and later became a Navy flight instructor. He was awarded the Navy Cross, Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation for his actions in combat at Midway and was later awarded an Air Medal.
Later years
After World War II, Gay spent over 30 years as a pilot for Trans World Airlines. He often lectured on his Midway experiences, and authored the book Sole Survivor. In 1975, he served as a consultant on the set for the movie Midway, in which Kevin Dobson played Gay. He attended the decommissioning ceremony of on April 11, 1992. In May 1994 Gay was named to the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. On October 21, 1994, Gay died of a heart attack at a hospital in Marietta, Georgia. His body was cremated and his ashes spread at the place that his squadron had launched its ill-fated attack.
