Ray Vohden was born on November 30, 1930, in Summit, New Jersey. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve on October 16, 1952, and went on active duty to begin the Aviation Cadet Program in the U.S. Navy on January 15, 1953. He was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy and designated a Naval Aviator at NAS Pensacola, Florida, on August 2, 1954, and then flew with VF-73, VF-74, before serving with VA-216 as an A-4 Skyhawk pilot. LCDR Vohden was forced to eject from his stricken aircraft over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on April 3, 1965. After spending 2,873 days in captivity, CDR Vohden was released during Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973. He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries, and later served as the Principal Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense on Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from September 1975 to December 1976. Capt Vohden served as Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., from September 1979 to August 1982, followed by service as a member of the Naval Discharge Review Board on the Staff of the Director, Naval Council of Personnel Boards, from September 1982 until his retirement from the Navy on August 1, 1985. Ray Vohden Flew West on November 21, 2016, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

His Silver Star Citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while interned as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam from August 1966 to February 1967. His captors, completely ignoring international agreements, subjected him to extreme mental and physical cruelties in an attempt to obtain military information and false confessions for propaganda purposes. Through his resistance to those brutalities, he contributed significantly toward the eventual abandonment of harsh treatment by the North Vietnamese, which was attracting international attention. By his determination, courage, resourcefulness, and devotion to duty, he reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Naval Service and the United States Armed Forces.