The 5-foot-10 Wright weighed 137 pounds and was dressed in his Sunday suit, the only clothes he had that weren't overalls.
"I spent my dime to buy pencils to fill out the papers," he said. "So then all three of us were flat broke."
The three men served during World War II. Two made it home alive.
The Army had a shortage of uniforms, so Wright wore that same Sunday suit for a month.
"I would pull it off every day and wash the pants in the bathroom sink and hang them to dry overnight and put it all on again the next morning," he said.
Asked if he was proud to finally put on his Army uniform, he
repeated the question, "Proud?"
After a pause, he let out a laugh. "It felt good to have on clean clothes," he said.
Last week, Wright, 95, reflected on his Army days.
"I saw a lot of young men die," Wright said. "It was ugly."
That is about the extent of Wright's words on World War II. He did what he had to do and came home in 1945 with no physical wounds.
"I got knocked down one time by a clod of frozen dirt after a shell landed near me," he said.
He served in Company B, the 83rd Field Artillery and operated an M7 tank with a 50-caliber machine gun mounted on top.
"I went overseas to England and Normandy, and wherever the fight went, I went," he said.
5 Bronze Stars
Wright served for five years between the German Blitz on England and the Battle of the Bulge. He was in when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and when the U.S. dropped the nuclear bombs on Japan.
He earned five bronze stars for service in five different battles. He was awarded the American Defense Service Medal, and the Campaign Medal.
Once back home, he put his medals in a shoe box in a closet, tucked his memories away and focused on the here and now. He married a few years later and began his family. He had four kids, three daughters and a son, and would spend his career working as an auto mechanic.
While the kids were toddlers, a fire destroyed the family home along with his military awards. His wife died before the children reached their teens. Wright raised them alone and remained single until the last one married.
"He made a big sacrifice for us kids," said Sue Lucente, 68, his second born. "He put us first, before finding him a second wife."
Wright would never say he put the happiness of his kids ahead of his own. He would say their happiness was his happiness.
His family knew nothing of his honors until about two years ago, when Lucente went to the Veterans Administration seeking medical care for her father. The VA informed her as they looked at his record.
She began working with the VA to replace the lost medals and filled a shadow box with the ribbons, stars and awards earlier this year.
Lucente talked about her father last week.
She said he was the kind of daddy every kid wanted.
He danced hand-in-hand around the living room with them when music played and would leave work early when winter weather brought snow.
"If school let out early, Daddy would always come home early to play with us in the snow," Lucente said.
Wright loved to hunt and fish and shared adventures with his children.
"He gave us all a love of the outdoors," Lucente said. "And a sense of humor."
Hand in hand
Wright found love again and when describing his wife of nearly 45 years, he says, "She's tops."
He remained active into his 80s. A heart attack and several strokes slowed him down and weakened his left side. He drags his left foot a little. The light in his eyes remains bright, like he is about to smile. He will only admit to being tired.
"I don't believe I could get out there and plow all day," he says with the laugh of a man who has walked behind a horse tilling the earth from dawn to dusk.
Johnnie and Margie Wright, 86, shared memories last week as they held the shadow box between them on their laps. Margie tapped on the glass as she gazed at the black-and-white photo of the young soldier and said, "Wasn't he handsome?"
The two of them sat holding hands while they reminisced. His usually weak left hand came to life in hers. His fingers curved around and clasped hers. Wright spends most of his days in a recliner with a clear view of the shadow box to his right and the TV straight ahead. Margie scours the programming guide for news and nature shows and sets the television accordingly.
The Wrights make a few trips each year to the Rock Hill VA office. Sometimes, Margie will take him for a sight-seeing ride around the countryside in her silver Buick.
She won't let anyone else take care of him. She has a bad knee, but has only given in to some housekeeping help.
"I have help for me so I can help him," she said. "That's my job."
Wright squeezed her hand and smiled.
Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or
contact her at (803) 283-1152
No comments:
Post a Comment