On what would have been his 103rd birthday, I would like to take a moment to remember the story of Lieutenant James E. Wright of Lumber Bridge, North Carolina.

James Earl Wright

In September 1944, Lieutenant Wright of the 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division was fighting in France along the Moselle River. On the morning of September 8th, Lt. Wright’s unit was part of a large force ordered to cross the river and take up a position in the woods along the opposite shore. Once the 11th had crossed the river, the German's checked their advance with a determined counter-attack. Taking heavy losses over the next few days, on September 10th the regiment received the order to pull back across the river. During the night of September 10-11, a handful of officers stayed behind to search the woods for the wounded or missing. Among the missing was Lt. Wright.

Born on October 16th, 1918, in Parkton, North Carolina, James Earl Wright graduated from Parkton High School in 1936. By the time he'd married Margaret Canaday on December 21st 1942, James had already been in the North Carolina Army Reserve for 6 years, and was an acting 2nd Lieutenant. When war broke out however, he was transferred into the active duty US Army and made a 1st Lieutenant in late 1940.

James' beautiful wife Margaret.

With war being waged over in Europe, it wasn't long before James found himself in France. His first destination was Utah Beach, where he arrived along with his men on July 10th, 1944, over a month after the initial invasion of the beachhead as part of Operation Overlord. The 11th Infantry Regiment, an ancient regiment with lineage tracing all the way back to January 1799, successfully fought deep into France, before finally being halted in its tracks by a strong German defensive line at Dornot, not far from the German border. It was there that James' regiment dug their defensive positions into a curved line at the edge of the forest they called "Horseshoe Woods." From September 8th to 11th, they fought fiercely in that sector, holding the line and trying to advance against the German First and Fifth Panzer Divisions. Lacking the element of surprise and supplies necessary to defeat the Germans at the Moselle River in Dornot, General Patton decided to pull his men back and encircle the area before attempting any further crossings. In 26 counter-attacks against the Germans at that one spot, the 11th Infantry Regiment suffered 363 KIA and many more MIA, one of which was Lt. Wright.

James is proudly standing next to his car. Ca. 1943

Lt. Wright's name was listed on the Walls of the Missing at the Lorraine American Cemetery. 72 years later, in 2016, the unknown remains of an American soldier were recovered from the Dornot area and put under multidisciplinary review, using dental and anthropological analyses. On July 9, 2021, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains as First Lieutenant James E. Wright, missing since that fateful day in September of 1944. As soon as he was identified, his family set out to bring him home.

Undoubtedly the same photo shoot as the previous picture, James here is standing with his father Robert.

On October 12th of this year, Lt. Wright was finally laid to rest in his home state of North Carolina. He is now buried at Oakdale Cemetery in North Carolina.

A beautiful picture taken from the burial of Lieutenant Wright. Photo credit:
Andrew Craft, The Fayetteville Observer

A beautiful story

Lt. Wright's story was brought to my attention by Captain Charlie Noble of the North Carolina National Guard, a great man and close friend of mine. In addition to being a fine soldier, Captain Noble is an experienced and passionate military historian for whom I have profound admiration. More importantly, Captain Noble played a key role in Lt. Wright's return to the United States. Therefore, as soon as I heard about Lt. Wright's story from Captain Noble, I wanted to write about it on my blog. However, I am not the first author to write about Lt. Wright, and if you are interested in reading more about his story, here is a list of articles that are not only more extensive than my own, but also which I used to write my article.

WWII war soldier to return home Tuesday for burial with full military honors, by The Stars and Stripes
https://www.stripes.com/veterans/2021-10-09/wwii-soldier-remains-return-burial-north-carolina-james-e-wright-3183485.html

PHOTOS: Funeral service for 1st Lt. James E. Wright, who was killed in WWII, by The Fayetteville Observer
https://eu.fayobserver.com/picture-gallery/news/2021/10/14/photos-funeral-service-1st-lt-james-e-wright-who-killed-wwii/8424482002/

James Earl Wright's Obituary, by The Lafayette Funeral Home
https://www.lafayettefh.com/obituary/1LTJames-Wright

Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Wright, J.), by Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/2700537/soldier-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-wright-j/

Captain Noble and I the day we first met, in June 2017 in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. I'm proud of what my friend accmplished for Lieutenant Wright and for Lieutenant Wright's family. Acting in the true spirit of Project Vigil, he cemented himself as a member of the Project Vigil family. On behalf of Lieutenant Wright, and all those Project Vigil remembers, thank you Charlie.

"I promise to remember"