FALLEN HERO

DEFINITION OF A VETERAN

A Veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life."- Author Unknown


Specialist Kyle J. Wright, 22, of Romeoville, Illinois, was killed in action 13 January 2010 when his Stryker vehicle drove over an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team; part of the 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington.

Kyle was a third-generation soldier. “Kyle was a better man than me when I was 22, and was well on his way to being a better man than I am today,” said his father Richard Wright, who was a combat medic with the 82nd Airborne Division. “He was the most honorable man I’ve ever known in my life.” Wright said the bomb that killed his son went off under the driver’s seat and that Kyle was dead by the time soldiers pulled him from the wreckage.

Wright is the 31st member of the Brigade killed in action since it deployed to southern Afghanistan last summer. All but one were killed by IED’s.

A graduate of Romeoville High School, Kyle Wright reported to Fort Lewis in January 2007 when the 5th Brigade was originally formed, his father said, and he went through intensive Arabic language training when the Brigade prepared to deploy to Iraq.

“He was one of the smarter kids in the outfit, so they tagged him with learning Arabic,” Richard Wright said. “He wasn’t supposed to be driving; they just needed someone with nerves of steel at the wheel.”

His body was escorted home by his brother-in-law, an NCO in the 5th Brigade. Kyle Wright is survived by his parents, three sisters and a brother. He had a serious girlfriend from Tacoma, Washington.



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Kyle will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors, in accordance with his wishes. A memorial tribute will be held on February 8, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at the Romeoville Recreation Center, 900 W. Romeo Road, Romeoville Illinois.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to:

Operation Support our Troops, Illinois
1807 S. Washington Street
Suite 110, #359
Naperville, IL 60565

Donations should be noted: "In Memory of Kyle Wright"








“He was a United States Soldier. Honor him.”




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