Spc. Kyle J. Wright was remembered Friday as a giving and courageous person who cracked jokes, pulled pranks and used a listening ear to support soldiers fighting beside him in Afghanistan.
“We, his brothers, knew a fearless man that was always in the thick of the action and had a generous, giving spirit,” Lt. Col. Jeff French, Wright’s battalion commander, said at a memorial service at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Wright, 22, died Jan. 13 at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan from wounds suffered the day before when his Stryker vehicle drove over an improvised bomb. Wright, who was from suburban Chicago, served with the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division and was a third-generation soldier.
Capt. Jacob Saunders, Wright’s platoon leader with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, said Wright’s optimistic attitude turned “even the worst situation into a positive experience.”
Saunders recalled how Wright, his driver, would sneak energy drinks into Saunders’ assault pack or leave a packet of Pop-Tarts hanging in his vehicle hatch.
Wright would walk by and say, “‘Whoa, whatcha got there, sir?’ with that gigantic ‘Kyle’ smile of his,” Saunders said. “After particularly difficult days, he’d often be the first to sit quietly beside me, and after a long, awkward silence he’d gesture and inquire, ‘So … you wanna hug it out?’”
“Yeah man, I do,” Saunders told the crowd of about 400 people at the Lewis-McChord North Chapel.
Wright was buried Feb. 2 at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. A community center in his hometown of Romeoville, Ill., will be dedicated in his name Monday.
Wright is one of two Lewis-McChord soldiers reported killed in Afghanistan this year and among 32 killed since August. Most of those soldiers were with the same Stryker brigade as Wright. All but one has been killed in explosions.
Wright enlisted in the Army on Sept. 1, 2006, and reported to Fort Lewis in January 2007.
Wright’s two sisters, Kelly Wright and Krystal Greene, attended Friday’s memorial service, as did Wright’s brother-in-law, Sgt. Zachary Greene. Greene, who works as 5th Brigade supply sergeant, escorted Wright’s body home from Afghanistan.
Wright’s parents, Richard and Lynn Wright, were not at Friday’s service. Richard Wright was a combat medic with the 82nd Airborne Division.
Besides his surviving family members, Wright had a serious girlfriend he met in Tacoma. Among his interests was skateboarding. He earned a contract to compete semi-professionally before joining the Army.
The tributes to the goodness of Wright ended Friday with the somber repeating of his name during the last roll call.
After the third time his name was read, the silence was broken by the sounds of family members weeping in the front row.
After the service, Saunders said he and Wright had become close while serving together for two years. Saunders was in the Stryker vehicle when Wright was mortally wounded.
Saunders said Wright was a good person who loved his family.
“I know I will never recover from it; neither will they, fully,” Saunders said. “But we drive on just the same.”
Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647
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