WRIGHT, Gordon E., Sgt. 1917-1945
WRIGHT, MOSS
Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 5/21/2011 at 20:53:12
GORDON E. WRIGHT
DIES IN GERMANY
AFTER V-E DAYMitchell County Soldier
Killed After Fighting
Sopped in EuropeWord was received by B.F. Wright of Charles City, Thursday, June 7, from the War Department, stating that his son, Staff Sgt. Gordon E. Wright was killed in Germany on May 26, 1945.
Sergeant Wright had enlisted in the army on December 9, 1940 and was one of the first men to leave Mitchell county. He was inducted at Camp Dodge, Des Moines, and trained in several camps in this country.
He lacked just two days of having completed his year's military service when Pearl Harbor was bombed; so he continued in the service.
He was sent overseas on August 4, 1942 and was stationed for 16 months on Iceland; then for six months in England. He took part in the Normandy invasion and, as a result of injuries received, was awarded the Purple Heart. Since June 1944, he has been in France and Germany, with the exception of a 30-day rotation furlough.
He landed in New York on January 29, 1945 and was married in Brooklyn, New York to Mary Burke on February 5. They came west to visit relatives for their honeymoon. That was the first furlough in three and a half years, the last being at the time of his mother's death.
On March 1, he reported to Camp Shanks, New Jersey, and was again sent overseas.
He was in the graves registration quartermaster corps of the 7th army and in his last letter written May 21, he said, for the past three weeks he had been busy looking up graves of the missing pilots and had gone through the Brenner Pass into Austria, back through Poland, and the western slave held countries. He also said that he had over 100 points and was the third on the list of those about to be sent home.Sgt. Gordon E. Wright was born February 4, 1917 at Orchard, Iowa, the youngest child of B.F. and Nellie Wright. He was educated and spent all his life in Mitchell county until he enlisted in the service.
His mother preceded him in death on April 30, 1941.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Burke Wright, Brooklyn, N.Y., his father, B.F. Wright of Charles City, two brothers, John of Charles City and Marion of St. Ansgar, and by two sisters, Mrs. Bernice Gibson, Herkimer, N.Y. and Mrs. Estelle Moss of Osage.
[ Mitchell County Press, June 14, 1945 ]
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Photo from same newspaper article as above.
Mitchell Obituaries maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
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