Capt. Bill Wright

Service:  USAAF,  9th Bomber Squadron,  7th Bomber Group,  Heavy

Service #: 0-725565

Date of Death:  31 March 1944 as POW in Rangoon Central Jail

Hometown:  Commerce, Texas

Awards:  Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

William “Bill” Wright was born in 1920.  He was a good young man from Commerce, TX who is still affectionately known by the family as “Uncle Bill”.  He was one of six children born to Mr. & Mrs. James M. Wright, Sr.  Bill had two years of college from East Texas State Teachers College and worked for the family laundry business.  He had a witty sense of humor; as did his four brothers and one sister. The Wright boys were hard workers, but known in their hometown for the practical jokes they played on each other.  One of his brothers, James M. Wright Jr., was drafted and also served honorably in the 3rd Army and ultimately returned home safely.

William (Bill) Wright volunteered his service to the United States Army Air Force in November 1941.  He was a pilot in the 10th Air Force, 7th Bomb Group, 9th Bomb Squadron and flew the B-24J, #42-73055.  On December 1, 1943, at only 23 years of age, he took off from Pandaveswar Airfield on a bombing mission against Insein in Burma. He and his crew experienced heavy opposition and his plane was shot down by enemy fighters.  He and most of the crew were able to parachute to safety, but were then captured and imprisoned in the Rangoon Central Jail. He was ultimately beaten to death by a Japanese guard and his remains were undiscovered until 1946.  His remains were being transported on the cargo plane (C-47 #43-48308) from Rangoon to Calcutta on May 17, 1946 when it crashed.  Our family is committed to bringing him home.

-Written by great niece Michael “Micki” Tuminello

Photos provided by the Wright family:

Capt. Bill Wright (center) with two of his brothers.

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Capt. Bill Wright (on right) with an unknown crewman.

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Pilot, Capt. Bill Wright (center looking down) with gentlemen presumed to be his B-24 #42-73055 crew members.

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Capt. Bill Wright (seated on right) with an unknown airman.

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Capt. Bill Wright (left), Unknown (right).

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Update – March 26, 2013

Dear C-47 #8308 Family and Friends, 

I just want to touch base with you all and give you an update on the crash site for C-47 #8308.

We have good news!  We have received word that our case (crash site of C-47 #43-48308 that Clayton Kuhles MIARecoveries.org located in December, 2009) is slated for a 43 day JPAC mission that should begin around the first of May 2013. But please keep in mind we convey this message very cautiously, as it could be postponed at any time. 

In February, we received information that JPAC had listed India on its schedule for the spring of 2013, but had no specifics on which cases were slated for those missions.  We were hesitant to pass along the information for fear that the plans would fall through or not pertain to our case.

However, last weekend Sue Krall and I (Leslie Roane) attended a DPMO Family Update in Birmingham, AL and received “official word” that JPAC will be sending a team in to our crash site around the first of May 2013. It will be a specialized team that will be capable of combing the survey/investigation aspects of the mission with the excavation/recovery efforts. Maj. Gen McKeague expressed that they are hoping to complete the recovery with one deployment but they are prepared to return in the fall 2013 if needed.

JPAC is planning to provide updates to us as the case is progressing. If you would like to receive these updates, please email: bringhomec47@gmail.com and we will add you to our email list.  You may also “Subscribe” to this website or “Follow” our Facebook page by clicking on those links on the right hand side, however the updates on the website or Facebook may not be as detailed as the emails.

While this news is very exciting, I remain cautiously optimistic that a recovery of remains will take place. I will not let myself be overjoyed until I have confirmation that the JPAC team is in place and making progress. There are so many “what if’s” that could jeopardize this mission. What if there are no remains to be found? What if they find some remains but not my loved ones? What if India retracts JPAC’s access and they must vacate the site at any time, never to return?  The list goes on and on…but we must remain hopeful. Hopeful that our boys will be brought back home.

You may be interested to view a short video about JPAC’s recovery in Tarawa. There are some similarities to our case.

http://youtu.be/4M53eci7Ubg

Warmest Regards,

Leslie & Sue

May 31, 2010 – 5:00 pm

WMC-TV – Action News 5

Memorial Day News Segment

Justin Hanson, reporter for Action News 5 in Memphis, provided excellent Memorial Day coverage of the story about 1st Lt. John C. Kelley and those lost on C-47 #43-48308. Justin, a Covington, Tennessee native, is a friend of the Kelley family. He attended high school with Leslie and has known other members of the family since childhood.

It was a pleasure to be able to work with Justin in the creation of the evening news segment. We sincerely appreciate Justin going the extra mile to make this a special memory for the Kelley family. We are very grateful for his time and attention to detail.

Justin’s segment featured actual film footage of Lt. Kelley and the crash site discovered by Clayton Kuhles. The video may be viewed by visiting the link to Action News 5 below.

– Leslie Kelley Roane

May 31, 2010 – 4:30 pm

WREG – News Channel 3

Memorial Day News Segment

After completing the interview for Live at 9, I was approached by reporter Candace McCowan and asked for an interview for the afternoon news. I was surprised and excited to be able to receive coverage on both news venues. Thanks to WREG – News Channel 3 for providing the opportunity to share our story once again.

To view this news segment and read the transcript, please click on the image below.

May 31, 2010 – 9:00 am

WREG – News Channel 3

“Live at 9” Morning Show

On Monday, I had the pleasure of visiting the Peabody Place set of WREG News Channel 3’s morning talk show “Live at 9” for a sit-down interview with hosts Marybeth Conley and Alex Coleman. They felt that the story about John and the C-47 #8308 was very appropriate to be shared on the Memorial Day holiday. I would like to thank the staff at WREG News Channel 3 for allowing me to appear as a guest on their show.

To be honest, I was quite nervous about appearing on live television without a script to follow, but I was very pleased with how the interview turned out.

To view video of the seven minute interview, please click on the image below.

-Leslie Kelley Roane