Newspaper Page Text
The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, August 21,2019, Page 9A
Veteran of the Month - Jim Wright
Jim Wright joined the
U.S. Army in September
of 1986 at the age of 21
and entered active duty
in February of 1987. He
completed basic training
with D. Company 2nd
Battalion 28th Infantry
at Fort Jackson S.C.
in April of that same
year. After graduation,
Wright was given orders
to report to Fort Sam
Houston, Texas to begin
advanced training as a
military med
ic. Upon ar
riving to Fort
Sam, Wright
was looking
forward to
a change in
uniforms
and don the
white clin
ical clothes
as promised
by the Army
Recruiter. He
quickly dis
covered that this wasn’t
to be when he reported
to the combat medic
course then housed in
the old wooden two-sto-
ry barracks left over
from the old army of
WWII. Graduation
day finally arrived and
Wright again received
orders to report to Head
quarters Company 46th
Engineers at Fort Rucker
Alabama to serve as aid
station medic for the
company.
During the evenings
he spent most of his
time attending college
courses offered both
on and off the fort for
civilian Emergency
Medical Technicians and
Paramed
ics. In June
of 1989
Wright
received
orders to
accompany
Company
B, 46th
Engineers
to the
Republic of
Honduras. The Ameri
can Army was building
roads and making other
civil improvements in
remote areas near El
Salvador in Central
America. For a young
man who had never
traveled outside of the
Deep South it was an
interesting place to be.
It was the only place
he’d ever seen with wild
parrots flying around
everywhere and he
soon had one as a pet.
It also opened his eyes
to what extreme pov
erty looked like. While
there Wright received
an Army Achievement
Medal after he got word
of a seriously injured
Honduran civilian. The
man had been the victim
of a machete fight and
had lost a large amount
of blood from the attack.
An Army medevac
helicopter was called
in but was too far away
to assist. Wright put his
training to work and
was able to control the
bleeding and improve
the blood pressure of the
man while he was being
transported by ground
ambulance to the field
hospital. With the proper
trauma management,
the camp surgeons were
able to not only save the
man’s life but also save
his severally wounded
hands.
After returning from
Central America, Wright
received orders to trans
fer to the 226th 2/101st
Airborne Attack Heli
copter Battalion, still at
Fort Rucker at the time.
While serving in the
unit he reported daily to
work in the Emergency
Room at Lyster Army
Hospital and continued
his emergency medi
cal studies at George
Wallace Community
College. After a year
at the hospital, Wright
interviewed
and was
accepted
into the
U.S. Army
Flight Med
ic Program.
At the same
time he
was also
reassigned
to the
School of
Aviation’s
Crash-Res
cue Unit at Cairns Army
Airfield. In February of
1990, Wright graduat
ed from the Academy
of Health Sciences and
reported to “Flatiron”
Crash-Rescue to assume
the duties of a Medevac
medic. The primary job
of the Army’s crash-res
cue squadron was to
provide medevac support
to the School of Avia
tion for student military
pilots. Wright was also
assigned to a program
called the Military
Assistance to Safety and
Traffic or “M.A.S.T.”
The M.A.S.T. program
allowed the rural areas
of Lower Alabama,
North Florida, and South
Georgia
to call for
military
assistance
when an
emergency
event was
too large
for the
local gov
ernment
to handle.
This normally was a
“roadside” pick up by
Army Medevacs that
landed on the highway
or fields and transported
the injured civilians to
trauma centers located in
Dothan. This was in the
days before companies
like Life Flight had air
craft in the area and the
program was very suc
cessful with hundreds
of missions having been
flown by the unit. Major
car accidents, missing
persons, shootings,
floods, downed civilian
aircraft and hospital
transfers were among the
calls for assistance.
In March of 1991, with
the outbreak of the first
Gulf War, Wright was
sent to Camp Shelby
Mississippi for a month
rotation to provide
Medevac coverage of the
state’s Army National
Guard deployment to
Iraq. During this time,
he provided any flight
medic needs and assist
ed with immunizations
and updating medical
records for the departing
soldiers.
Shortly after returning,
in April of 1991, Wright
received his first Army
Commendation Medal
for another life save
while off duty from the
Army. Wright responded
to a call from the City
of Daleville Alabama’s
Department of Public
Safety that a person had
been shot in the head and
neck during a domestic
dispute and the shooter
was still inside the house
with the victim. Wright
entered the house prior
to the police arriving
and was able to clear an
airway and stabilized the
bleeding.
During his time at
Fort Rucker’s Flatiron
Crash-Rescue, Wright
responded to six downed
aircraft. Five being
military helicopters and
the sixth being a civilian
law enforcement fixed
wing aircraft. One of
the missions involved a
UH-1 better known as
a Huey Helicopter, that
had ditched deep into
an Alabama swamp in
a remote area making
it not easily accessible
by ground. Wright was
lowered from the rescue
aircraft on a hoist and
brought up the three stu
dent pilots on board.
In February of 1992,
Wright opted out of reen
listment and at his depar
ture was given a second
Army Commendation
Medal for the services
as a Flight Medic at the
Air Ambulance Division.
Wright left the Army
that month and later
returned to Lee County
where he obtained a job
with the City of Albany
as a firefighter.
In 1993, Wright who
had begun to miss his
time in the military
joined the Georgia
Army National Guard
in Albany which at the
time was the l/121st
Mechanized Infantry.
He served at one point
under the supervision
of Col. Bob Usry of Lee
County. Wright enlisted
and arrived just in time
to be activated for the
Flood of 1994, and like
a lot of other people and
soldiers at the time, he
was a little bit of every
where. Wright had duties
during the event as both
a civilian firefighter and
as a military medic. Such
as patrolling the streets
and houses in boats and
assisting the citizens
where he could.
Later in 1994, Wright
transferred to C. Com
pany in Macon to work
with the National Guard
Medical unit there and
attended the Georgia
Military Institute for
N on- c ommissioned
Officers. While at the
school in Macon, he
was asked by the Com
mandant where he was
from. Sgt. Wright’s reply
was, “From someplace
you’ve probably never
even heard of Sergeant
Major” The Command
Sergeant Major replied
back “Try me - I’ve been
all over this state, son” -
to which Wright said “I
live in Smithville”. - The
Commandant was CSM
Billy Manning of Lees
burg.
Jim Wright left the mil
itary for good in 1996.
He is married and has
four grown children and
three grandchildren. He,
his wife, and daughter
attend the First Baptist
Church of Leesburg.
Jim spends as much
off duty time as he can
researching local history
and relic hunting in the
creeks and fields. He has
been employed with Lee
County since 2000 and
is currently the County
Marshal, overseeing
Code Enforcement,
stormwater, Animal
Control, Rivers Alive
and surplus property.
Westover Lawn And Garden, Albany
Westover Outdoor
Power Equipment,
4- Novi Selling
WPARTAN
' Cargo Trailers
Bu i/t
Here I n
Georgia!
Many Sizes
ond Colors
to Choose
From/
We Also Carry
Gooseneck Trailers • Equipment Trailers
Pump Trailers • Utility Trailers
Car Haulers • Tilt Trailers
Westover lawn westover Outdoor
nd Garden Power Equipment
East Lamar St.
Americus, GA 31709 229-380-0256
500 S. Westover Blvd.
Albany, GA 229-436-1507
*S {.UMBER & HARBtfAKE
s 153 Robert B. Lee
Leesburg, Ga
I 759-2963
A locally-owned family
business, supplying
building materials to south
Georgia since 1898!
Pool Season Is Here!
Get Your Pool Ready At
Griffin Lumber & Hardware!
FREE WATER TESTING
Qjftajtas
Full Line of Hardware And Building Materials