Better late than never
A former Marine Raider who lied about his age to get into WWII wants a birthday card for his 100th.
Frank S. Wright has lived a life. At 16, as World War II raged, he lied about his age and joined the Marine Corps, entering into the ranks of legends as a Marine Raider in the Pacific. He fought at Guadalcanal. He was bayonetted (sic) in the stomach while liberating Guam. He was shot in the chest and arm at the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Now Wright has a request: He wants 100,000 birthday cards when he turns 100 on July 5.
Sounds reasonable to me. Seems the Stockton paper published this last month, but few picked it up. Gonna be a stretch to get another 99,578 in three days.
As of Tuesday, Wright had received 422 birthday cards, said retired Marine Gunnery Sgt. Marvin HernandezGarcia, commander of American Legion Karl Ross Post 16 in Stockton, California.
HernandezGarcia said he first met Wright nine years ago shortly after becoming commander of the Stockton Marine Corps Club. The two instantly bonded when Wright saw HernandezGarcia wearing his Marine Corps Dress Blues uniform, and they began meeting almost every week.
At 16, Wright lied about his age to enlist in the Marine Corps in January 1942, according to the Amazon summary of his first book: “Battles in the Pacific: World War II, My Personal War Causing PTSD.” By the end of World War II, his military awards included 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 Expedition Medal, Combat Action with four stars, Victory Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.
He initially served in the 4th Raider Battalion, one of the Marine units that is often credited as the U.S. military’s first special operations forces, explaining that he joined the battalion because the Raiders were “the best fighting outfit” in the Marine Corps at the time.
And the joys of serving – the article tells how he fought hand-to-hand, got bayoneted, was on the wrong end of Japanese machine gun fire – he sound like a walking pincushion.
After World War II, Wright left the Marines as a corporal, but Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith has recommended Wright for an honorary promotion to sergeant, Smith said in a statement to Task & Purpose.
“Recommending Frank for this honorary promotion was an easy decision,” Smith said. “He is a proud veteran of the famed Marine Raiders. His courageous service during the Pacific Campaign, including at historic battles like Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima, has firmly cemented his place in the legacy of the Corps. We are immensely proud to call Frank one of our own and wish him a happy 100th birthday.”
Hope the promotion comes through soon!
Anyone who wants to send Wright a birthday card can mail them to the following address: Frank S. Wright, Stockton Marine Corps Club, PO BOX 691045, Stockton, CA 95269-1045. Task and Purpose
What a Marine, BZ to you Sir
I’m going to be doing jack shit for the next few days on a glamping trip with kids. I usually don’t buy into this kinda glurge, BUT, I’m going to get a card and send it on it’s way….something sentimental such as ….
Hey, Good Jerb Marine, you Crutsy Old Fucker!
I’m proud of you and thank you for your extrodinary service.
Keep On Getting It!
(Some Chairforce E-8 slacker.) 😀
The ‘Greatest Generation’ ain’t no shit…
16 years old’s in 1940’s: slaying mother f*ckers…
16 years old’s in 2020’s: don’t know if they’re boys or girls…
I know I’m going to sound like the old ‘get off my lawn!’ guy here, but if we had most of today’s youth fighting in WW2, we’d be taking mandatory German and Japanese language classes right now.
Well…..you could bet your life there wouldn’t be an illegal immigrant issue. Crime would be WAAY down too.Communism would have been stamped out. No LGBTNKVD bullshit being forced on our children.
But fuck that…..I’m not mispronouncing my R’s or eating cabbage on the daily for no one!
Something doesn’t quite add up. Combat Action with 4 stars (5th Award). That has got to be a record. Also his rack changes depending on what day his picture is being taken. Sometimes he has 2 Purple Hearts, sometimes he has 3 Presidential Unit Citations, sometimes it’s just 1.
I don’t care about his age but this is most likely being overlooked because of his age. If you went after David Hackworth then that should make this guy open game regardless of his age.
Good point, Cider, but one would think that if The Commandant of The Corps has taken an interest in this that the Marine had been “vetted” to make sure that the story is legit. Should be easy enough for that to happen. In the mean time, I will give The Old Boy the benefit of a doubt and drop him a card in the mail. Probably won’t get there in time for his birthday but hey, he’ll know that I care. Would be kinda sad if he was embellishing, but it won’t be the first time that has happened.
Semper Fi, Good Sir…and Happy Birthday!
Better to call him out while he’s alive than when he is dead. Also I doubt the Commandant’s duties include checking for embellishment, that is something TAH has taken on, or at least it did when Jon Lilyea was still around. I’m guessing somethings do tarnish overtime.
At 99, he may not be dressing himself. Or feeding/wiping himself.
I must admit, I thought of sending him a mocked-up NJP for the under age enlistment, therein listing but suspending all the real dings and finally asking the nearest available Marine officer to verbally admonish him “Naughty Naughty you old codger. Thanks. Happy Birthday.”
Waiting for Kommissar Kochsucher to reply about how Joe and Jill Biden lost their son in Iraq and how Finnegan Biden was going to be personally rescued from cannibals from him. That has got to be the reason for 4 CARs in such a short period of time.
I’m not giving him the benefit of the doubt, it’s obvious he’s embellishing. Also take note of his PUC appearing to have tear marks in the center.
Might also note the T&P took all their info from a covilian writer, and we’ve seen countless unintentional errors from them. Most don’t know a Silver Star from a Clark Bar. I’m inclined to give a man of his age and purported track record a pass.
And he deserves every one of them!! God bless the Brass Balled Bad Ass Devildog and Happy Birthday as well. Semper Fi sir!!!
Happy Century, Sir!