CLEVELAND, OK, USA
U.S. Army
1LT, COMPANY A, 2D BATTALION, 1ST INFANTRY, 2 BCT, FORT LEWIS, WA
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN 09/14/2009
A Moore High School graduate who attended the University of Oklahoma on a track scholarship before joining the military has died in Afghanistan. His parents, Tim and Michele Wright, issued a statement through Primrose Funeral Service.
“We want to say how much we appreciate the prayers and support that has been shown to our family during this very difficult time. David was a true soldier, who cherished the opportunity to fight for his country.
“We arrived at Dover Air Force Base this evening, where we are awaiting the arrival of David’s remains later tonight. David was a very special person and cared for so many. We loved him greatly and will miss him tremendously.”
David Wright’s father is a Moore police officer, his mother a hair stylist, said Tom Noles, his former coach at Moore High School. Wright attended Oklahoma University on a track scholarship. He joined the military after graduation, Noles said.
“David was a wonderful young man. Very respectful, very dedicated to what he was doing. Very polite. His parents did a great job of raising him,” Noles said.
Noles is a neighbor of the Wrights, and David Wright was one of the first friends his son Tommy made when they moved to Moore, he said.
“They were very proud of him and what he accomplished, and he accomplished a lot,” he said.
Moore Public Schools Superintendent Debbie Arato said the school was informed of his death on Tuesday.
“He was very well-liked,” Arato said.
About 400 mourners packed a Norman church for the funeral of 26-year-old 1st Lt. David Timothy Wright II, who was killed along with another soldier Sept. 14 when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle while on patrol. Dozens of police officers lined the sidewalk outside the church as a hearse carrying Wright’s flag-draped coffin left the church. Letters from soldiers who served with Wright were read during the service.
David Wright II didn’t let his football and track talent go to waste after graduating from Moore High School in his hometown of Moore, Okla. He went to the University of Oklahoma on a track scholarship and earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 2006.
After being deployed to Afghanistan in July, Wright wrote home about the honor he felt for his country and his fellow soldiers as they protected a village. He said he had no hard feelings toward the villagers, although some were angry with the soldiers.
“These people deserve a better existence,” he wrote, “and hopefully my efforts will help, in a small way, provide that to them.”
That letter was waiting for his parents, Tim and Michele, when they returned to Oklahoma after receiving his body.