Gregroy Anthony Wright - Sergeant, United States Army

NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense

No. 058-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2007

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sergeant Gregroy A. Wright, 28, of Boston, Massachusetts, died January 13, 2007, in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations.Wright was assigned to the 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas.

South End soldier killed in Iraq
By Michele McPhee
Courtesy of the Boston Herald
Saturday, January 20, 2007

Twice a week, Army Sereant Gregroy A. Wright would call his little girl from Iraq and whisper these words to her: “Daddy loves you.”

But 3-year-old Tiaja Wright received her last call from her father this past week. On January, 2007, 13, the 28-year-old father from the South End was killed when a bomb detonated near his vehicle during combat operations in Muqdadiya, 60 miles north of Baghdad.

Wright was carrying pictures of his daughter in his battle gear when he died, the soldier’s father, Conroy Wright, said last night from the Tremont Street apartment he shared with his son.

“She is too young to understand that her father can’t call her anymore,” he said. “I know my son loved her more than anything in the world. He had hundreds of pictures of her with him in Iraq, and had some with him that day he died.

“She will be heartbroken to know her father is not here with us.”

Gregroy Wright had immigrated to Boston from Jamaica in 1997 when he was 19 years old. Two years later, “to give something back to the country he loved,” his father said, Wright enlisted in the Army National Guard. In 2004, he went on active duty with the Army.

Wright was assigned to the 1st Engineering Battalion, 1st Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division based out of Fort Riley in Kansas, U.S. Department of Defense officials said yesterday.

“He loved America. He wanted to give something back. He saw the achievement he could make here in the country, and he joined the Army as a career,” Conroy Wright said. “My son was going to be something big in this world. After he finished his service, he wanted to become a state trooper. He loved Boston and wanted to stay here for good.

“I’m very sad to lose my son, but I am very proud of my son.”

Wright said his son will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His fellow soldiers also held a memorial service in his honor at Fort Riley.

He is one of 47 soldiers from Massachusetts to die in Iraq, according to a Department of Defense Web site.

20 January 2007:

A 28-year-old Boston man, raised in Jamaica and the father of a 3-year-old child, became the latest local soldier to die in Iraq on Saturday.

NewsCenter 5's Sean Kelly reported that Sergeant Gregroy A. Wright died in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations.

Wright was assigned to the 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division in Fort Riley, Kansas.

Wright enlisted in the National Guard in 1999 and joined the Army two years ago.

Wright's family said the soldier was a man who believed in serving his country. His father said his son died doing what he loved.

Conroy Wright remembers phone conversations with his son in Iraq about the improvised explosive devises that he'd seen and the local children.

“He'd give them candy, and they would tell them if something going on,” Conroy Wright said.

Conroy Wright said he warned his son, too.

“I was mostly trying to tell him to stay safe. Don't be hero. Do your job. If you can hide, hide. Don't be the one who's always in the front. We talked about things like that,” he said.

The Army sent a messenger to tell his father on Saturday.

“My mind is numb and my mind, there's so much going through it right now,” Conroy Wright said. “I knew he'd be something great, and this is a proud moment.”

Wright will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Soldier Was Loyal To Adopted Country
By Arianne Aryanpur
Courtesy of the Washington Post
Saturday, January 27, 2007

The sun had started to set at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday by the time a silver hearse carrying the body of Army Sergeant Gregroy A. Wright pulled into Section 60.

A coffin bearing the 28-year-old father was draped in an American flag, and mourners followed as uniformed soldiers carried it to the grave site, where it was placed among the rows of white headstones.

Members of the Army Honor Guard conduct funeral services for Sergeant
Gregroy A. Wright at Arlington National Cemetery, 26 January 2007

Wright, of Boston, was killed January 13, 2006, in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle during combat operations, according to the Defense Department. He was assigned to the 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas, and was the 298th person killed in the Iraq war to be buried at Arlington, cemetery officials said.

A chaplain delivered a brief Protestant service to the 100 or so mourners assembled, and in military tradition, a three-shot volley was fired in salute and a bugler played taps. As the soldiers stood at attention, their coats flapped in the cold winter wind.

Wright's father, Conroy Wright, and his mother, Rubena Watson, received folded American flags. His grandmother, Fay Wright, accepted a flag as well and nodded when the presenter offered his condolences.

Shortly after his son's death, Conroy Wright told reporters that his son wanted nothing more than to serve his country. Wright immigrated to the United States from Jamaica when he was 19, but he had a strong desire to show his appreciation for his adopted country by joining the military, according to the Boston Globe. Wright applied to Boston College but decided to join the Army National Guard instead. In 2004, he joined the Army full time.

“I knew he'd be something great, and this is a proud moment,” his father told a Boston television station.

Wright's heroes included Bob Marley, Nelson Mandela and “all men and women who serve in this country's military,” he wrote on his MySpace page. In the weeks since his death, the Web site has become a place for friends to share their grief.

A friend from Salem, Massachusetts, posted pictures of Wright wearing an Army beanie and a Livestrong bracelet. In each photo, he is holding an infant. “Greg, I don't want to believe it right now that you're gone,” she wrote. “You're too good to be gone this soon.”

Wright, who listed himself as divorced, left behind a 3-year-old daughter, Tiaja, his father said.

In another posting, “Cuff” echoed feelings of loss: “God bless you so much brother for sacrificing yourself for friends, family and country. I'm gonna miss the laugh, the smile and the way you made us feel when we were in your presence. I cry because we all lost a very special person.”

The Jamaican-born Boston soldier who gave his life serving in Iraq for the nation he loved was laid to rest yesterday in Arlington National Cemetery, a full citizen of the United States.

Army Sergeant Gregroy A. Wright, 28, father of a 3-year-old girl, was killed January 13, 2007, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Muqdadiyah, Iraq.

The combat engineer was assigned to the 1st Engineer Battalion out of Fort Riley, Kansas. The fort is home to the “Big Red One,” the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, of which Wright was a proud member, said his father, Conroy Wright.

The office of U.S. Immigrations and Citizenship Services said Wright was posthumously awarded full citizenship before his burial, said Shawn Saucier, a spokesman for the agency.

Conroy Wright said his son joined the Army as a way to repay the country he loved. Wright came to the United States from Jamaica in 1997, then entered the Massachusetts National Guard in 1999. He was pulled into active duty in 2004.

While deployed in Iraq, Gregroy Wright called his daughter twice a week, whispering, “Daddy loves you” in the earpiece before hanging up.

Conroy Wright said his son died with pictures of his daughter tucked in his battle gear.

During yesterday’s funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, Brigadier General Robert M. Radin kneeled before Conroy Wright and presented him with the flag that draped his son’s coffin before it was lowered in the ground.

Members of the honor guard carry the remains of Sergeant. Gregroy A. Wright during burial services at Arlington National Cemetery, Friday, January 26, 2007

Brigadier General Robert M. Radin, left, presents a U.S. Flag to Conroy Wright, father of Sergeant Gregroy A. Wright at burial services at Arlington National Cemetery, Friday, January 26, 2007

WRIGHT, GREGROY ANTHONY

SGT US ARMY
DATE OF BIRTH: 03/28/1978
DATE OF DEATH: 01/13/2007
BURIED AT: SECTION 60 SITE 8505
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard

Gregroy Anthony Wright – Sergeant, United States Army

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