By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
When Frank Wright was 16 years old, he was determined to join the Marines and fight for his country. It was WWII, the Greatest Generation was passionate about serving, and history is full of stories of young men who did the same thing. He had been inspired by the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, which said in part, that “Every single man, woman and child is a partner in the most tremendous undertaking of our American history.” He went to the recruiting office on Jan. 21 1942, and expected to breeze right through. He used his brother’s identity to get in, yet he still had a problem: he didn’t weigh enough. So, what Frank did was stuff bananas in his jacket, his pants, everywhere, and managed to get his weight up to the minimum standard to sign on.
At first, Wright served in the 4th Raider Battalion, which was activated on Oct. 23, 1942, and commanded by Maj. James Roosevelt. Because they were Marines, they saw battle quickly, and it was hellacious.
The first time Wright nearly died was when he was in Guadalcanal. He was in hand-to-hand combat in the Battle of Guam and got bayonetted by a Japanese soldier. Wright described the ordeal in his book, Battles in the Pacific: World War II, My Personal War Causing PTSD.
“I tripped and a [Japanese soldier] stabbed me in the stomach as I was going down and then fell on top of me.” Wright stated further, “Taking the life of a person with a knife is a lot different than shooting someone with a rifle from fifty yards away.” He also recounted, “When you see him up close, look into his eyes and hear him yell, well, it’s very different.” After having been bayonetted, he was told he had to finish out his patrol assignment because he could still walk.
While we as a culture are at least somewhat familiar with Iwo Jima because of the iconic photo of the flag being planted under fire, trying to understand what Marines went through to win that battle is impossible. In one month 7,000 of them died. Wright described it as “HELL on water.” While on Iwo Jima, Wright was shot in the chest. The bullets did great damage, but he miraculously survived. Frank received a number of medals, including the Purple Heart with two stars, Presidential Unit Citation with two stars, Navy Unit Commendation, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign with three service stars, Fleet Marine Force with four stars, Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, Combat Action with four stars, Victory Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.
Wright finished his service having attained the rank of corporal, but recently all that changed. Just a few days ago, in a ceremony in Stockton, California, 100-year-old Frank Wright was promoted from corporal to honorary sergeant by the 39th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric M. Smith. It had been nearly 79 years since he had been discharged, and now Frank S. Wright is rightfully Sgt. Wright. I hope he wears that title with a sense that millions of us are more grateful for his service than we’ll ever be able to express.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
