Viet Nam War Hero Widow to be Exhumed To Be Reburied with Him at Arlington National Cemetery

COLUMBUS, Ga. - March 3, 2014 - PRLog -- Armstrong Media Consulting

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Wife of Viet Nam War Hero Connected to Secretary of Defense McNamara To Be Exhumed Tuesday March 4th from Green Acres Cemetery in Columbus, GA for Final Resting Place at Arlington National Cemetery March 10,2014,

Forty-Four Years and A Day After Her Death

Children of Sp5 Wyley Wright Jr. to exhume his wife and their mother, Ouida F. Wright in order to join her with her husband, after his exhumation from a segregated Florida Cemetery. The Wrights will be Joined for a final memorial “Love Separated in Life…Love Reunited in Honor” at Arlington National Cemetery.   Mrs. Wright’s exhumation occurs 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 4th by Green Acres Cemetery with oversight by Taylor Funeral Home of Phenix City, AL.

Who:          Jackie Wright (60) of San Francisco, and Phyllis Wright Cameron (50) of Antioch, CA (San Francisco Bay Area) Joe N. Wright (58) of Columbus, GA, representing brother, Stanley Wright (55) of Orangeburg, SC; Ron Hale of Green Acres Cemetery, Columbus, GA and Tony Taylor of Taylor Funeral Home, Phenix City, AL.

What:          The exhumation from Green Acres Cemetery of Ouida Fay McLendon Wright on Tuesday, March 4, after 44 years for reburial at Arlington National Cemetery with husband, Sp5 Wyley Wright Jr., following his excavation on Monday, March 3rd.  Sp5 Wright (114^th Aviation Company, U.S. Army) was buried for 50 years at Mt. Olive Cemetery in Jacksonville, FL, a segregated cemetery.  He died March 9, 1964 at the age of 32 and Ouida F. Wright died March 9, 1970 at the age of 35.  As a Helicopter Crew Chief and Honor Guard for Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, he perished on March 9, 1964, along with PFC John Francis Shea (560^th Military Police Company) of Willimantic, CN (20 days from his 21^st birthday).  (http://560mp.tripod.com/560MP/Shea.htm) The Army base in Vinh Long, South Vietnam, “Shannon Wright Compound” was named in part in honor of Wright in 1964.  Lieutenant Kenneth A. Shannon died five days after Wright and Shea.

Ouida Fay McLendon Wright died March 9, 1970 of Pancreatic Cancer, survived by her children who were 16, 14, 11, 6 years of age.  At the time of their father’s death, they were 10, 8, 5, and six months (Sp5 Wright had only seen a photo of his youngest child, Phyllis and never had a chance to hold her).  The Wright story is a “Love story, Civil Rights story, American History story, Black History story and Faith story.”

http://wrightthevisiononthewall.blogspot.com/2008/06/tribute-to-spc-5-wyley-wright-for.html

When:          1:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Where:          Green Acres Cemetery, 1485 Schatulga Road, Columbus, GA 31907

Why:          Sp5 Wyley Wright Jr. served the United States as a military “lifer” and was a few years away from his dream of building a home for his family in Jacksonville, Florida and opening up his aviation repair company, when he died after completing his regular missions with honor, just two weeks before his scheduled return home.  The Wright Siblings believe their father has earned a place of honor and will exhume him from Mt. Olive Cemetery one of the segregated cemeteries of North Jacksonville that was not kept up as the City of Jacksonville had promised over the years as news accounts indicated.

         Although Green Acres of Columbus, Georgia is a well-kept perpetual cemetery, the siblings concluded that their parents, who shared a deep love for each other, should be buried in honor together.  They have themed the occasion “Love Separated in Life…Love Reunited in Honor.”  The Wright siblings are fulfilling the basic Judeo-Christian principle, one of the Ten Commandments, “Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother.”

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Background information:

Viet Nam War Hero Exhumed in Jacksonville, FL March 3, 2014

http://www.news4jax.com/news/family-moving-fallen-soldiers-body/-/475880/24776032/-/3m0h2mz/-/index.html

Fact Sheet

http://www.prlog.org/12284723-love-separated-in-lifelove-reunited-in-honor-mcnamara-connected-viet-nam-heros-arlington-reburial.html (../12284723-love-separated-in-lifelove-reunited-in-honor-mcnamara-connected-viet-nam-heros-arlington-reburial.html)

Viet Nam War Hero McNamara’s Honor Guard to be Moved from Segregated Cemetery in Jacksonville

http://www.prlog.org/12283135-viet-nam-war-hero-mcnamaras-honor-guard-to-be-moved-from-segregated-cemetery.html

Columbus Veteran & Family Moves U.S. Army Hero Father from Segregated Cemetery in Florida to Arlington National Cemetery

http://www.prlog.org/12283465-family-honors-mcnamara-connected-viet-nam-soldier-by-removing-from-segregated-cemetery-for-arlington-reburial.html

Antioch Resident Comes Full Circle as Parents Will Be Laid to Rest at Arlington

http://www.prlog.org/12288093-from-segregated-cemetery-to-arlington-legacy-of-viet-nam-war-hero-affirms-family-desire-giveback.html

Orangeburg Resident Moves Father to Arlington

http://www.prlog.org/12285355-orangeburg-sc-man-honors-viet-nam-hero-father-with-reburial-at-arlington-national-cemetery.html

Asian Week Article 2010 on San Francisco Reunion

http://www.asianweek.com/2010/06/28/family-reunion-honors-the-legacy-of-a-dad-and-vietnam-war-hero/

News Release 2010 on San Francisco Reunion

http://www.wrightnow.biz/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=67401&columnid

Gold Book Describing Death of Sp5 Wright and PFC Shea on March 9, 1964

http://560mp.tripod.com/560MP/Shea.htm

Battalion History of 114^th- “Knights of the Air”(First Army Aviation Unit in Viet Nam) outlining the difficulty of missions: http://www.145thcab.com/History/NL29HIST.htm