Howard Wright, 95, at his home in East Boothbay on Nov. 4. Wright was in high school during World War II when a telegram arrived alerting his family that his older brother had been missing in action. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

EAST BOOTHBAY — Howard Wright was in high school in 1944 when he answered a knock at the door and found a Western Union boy carrying a telegram with news that would devastate his family and raise questions that have lingered for 80 years.

“The Secretary of War wishes you to express his deep regret that his son, Private First Class Elmer G. Wright, has been reported missing in action since March 6 in Tunisia,” the aide’s telegram read. General James Ulio.

A month later, the family was notified that their 23-year-old son had been killed in combat when their boat was lost 8 miles off the coast of Tunisia. His body was never recovered.

Howard Wright flips through a folder containing documents, letters and photographs about his brother, Elmer, including a copy of the telegram his family received with the news that Elmer was missing in action. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Howard Wright, now 95, has never stopped mourning his older brother; his eyes still fill with tears as he describes the arrival of that telegram and the gentle way his brother always looked out for him. He has spent the last 50 years gathering details about his brother’s service, the convoy of ships he was part of and what happened on the day he died.

The walls of his East Boothbay home office are covered with framed photographs of generations of his family, including a large portrait of Elmer in uniform that dominates one wall.

Below hangs Elmer’s Military Police baton and the telegram sent to his parents, Clifford and Dorothy Wright. On a small coffee table is a 4-inch folder filled with documents: letters addressed to and from Elmer, photographs of him during his service, military records from Liberty Ships and firsthand accounts of the day Wright’s ship was lost.

For decades, the only medal the family had for Elmer’s military service was the Purple Heart awarded after his death. This fall, with the help of the office of Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the Army verified that Elmer Wright was entitled to five more medals.

“Private First Class Elmer Gay Wright gave his life for America during World War II, and honoring his legacy is our duty to him and to all who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation,” Collins said in a release. “I am proud to have been able to help bring closure to his family’s lives by securing the records they had long sought, confirming the additional medals he bravely won. …Despite the immense challenges in his life, PFC Wright’s patriotism and dedication to our country never wavered, and his meritorious service will not be forgotten.”

In total, Elmer Wright recently received a Presidential Unit Citation, a European, African and Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with a Bronze Service Star, an Army Good Conduct Medal, an American Campaign Medal and a Medal of the World War II victory that was sent to Howard. Wright in September.

Howard Wright holds the Victory Medal his brother recently received for his service during World War II. He was also notified that the family will receive four medals, including a Bronze Star. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Receiving those medals has been special for Howard Wright, a tangible recognition of the sacrifice his brother made. But a mystery remains: what was the mission that took Elmer Wright aboard a ship bound for Iran?

He knows there’s a chance he’ll never know the answer (nearly all of his brother’s service records were lost in a fire and most World War II veterans have died since then), but he won’t let himself lose hope. .

“One of the reasons that drives me to do this is that I want (my) son, his wife and our grandchildren to know my brother’s story so that it is not lost and they can appreciate the sacrifice that he made,” Howard Wright said.

A CALL TO SERVICE

The Wright children spent summers in Maine, where they wandered around Peaks Island and visited their mother’s family in Portland. Elmer was eight years older than Howard, the youngest in the family. Elmer was always calm and thoughtful and “you never heard a bad word from him,” Howard Wright said.

“He made sure I was as safe as possible,” he said. “He really took care of me.”

Elmer Wright, known as Pat, graduated from Colgate University in December 1942 and a month later entered the Army. Howard Wright said his brother was supposed to be on limited duty, away from combat zones because he was hard of hearing. But the military saw value in his ability to read lips and speak three foreign languages.

A photo of Elmer Gay Wright, who everyone called Pat, at his brother’s house in East Boothbay. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

He was assigned to a small unit of nine men who were college-educated and fluent in several languages, Howard Wright said. The unit was sent to Fort Custer in Michigan for special training.

Elmer Wright sent a letter on July 24, 1943 to his younger brother who was at summer camp at Lake Sebago. He described learning “everything there is to know about criminal investigations: taking fingerprints, taking and developing photographs, taking molds of tire marks and footprints.” They also learned about explosives, a variety of firearms and how to use judo to escape prey “and how to take down your opponent,” he wrote.

“I hope you are having a great time at camp,” he wrote. “From the way your aim is going, it looks like you’re going to have to come here and show me some tips on how to shoot guns.”

A letter Howard Wright received from his brother Elmer while at summer camp in the 1940s. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Elmer Wright left Norfolk, Virginia, on February 13, 1944, aboard the Daniel Chester French, a Liberty Ship bound for Iran and loaded with ammunition and other war supplies. It was part of a convoy of 90 ships that ran into a storm off the coast of North Africa. Records indicate that the seas were still turbulent when the commodore ordered some ships to change their positions on the night of March 5.

The next morning, there was confusion because the convoy stretched for 12 miles, said Howard Wright, who was able to reconstruct the events of that night from military records and firsthand accounts from survivors. The two diverted Liberty Ships, the Daniel Chester French and the Virginia Dare, were about 4 miles behind.

“It was a monster storm and their ship was driven straight through our own minefield,” Howard Wright said.

The Virginia Dare was the first to encounter a mine and sent out a distress call at 7:15 am. Five minutes later, the ship Elmer Wright was on hit the mines. It was loaded with ammunition and soon exploded.

Those on board were ordered to immediately abandon ship. She sank in 30 minutes.

HEROIC ACTIONS

The men on board rushed to the six available lifeboats. But Howard Wright said his brother and the 86 other Army passengers were unaware that the lifeboats had open drains in the bottom that had to be closed before being submerged in rough seas.

When the ship sank, Elmer Wright swam to a lifeboat alongside Lieutenant James Boyle, who survived and later wrote to the family about what happened. The men were taken into the lifeboat and held onto the same oar, working together to row because the sea was too strong for one man. The boat was filling with water and Elmer Wright told Boyle he would help him get it out using his helmet.

A few minutes later, a large wave lifted the boat and capsized it. Boyle never saw Elmer Wright again.

“He was scared like the rest of us, but not once did he show the slightest sign of fear. When many were praying out loud and paralyzed with fear, he kept his head and tried to do what he could,” Boyle wrote. “During the short time I knew him, he was always a gentleman and on the boat he behaved like a man.”

Elmer Wright was among the 37 men on the ship who died that day.

Howard Wright flips through his mother’s address book, which he used to start contacting people to ask about his brother’s death in World War II. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Soon, the telegram arrived at Wright’s home in Pennsylvania, followed by a letter from Brigadier General Robert H. Dunlop that said he was missing in action but provided no details about what happened.

On May 9, 1944, Dunlop wrote another letter to the Wright family, this time informing them that Elmer Wright had died on March 6 while a passenger “on an American ship that was sunk as a result of enemy action in the Mediterranean.” Sea near Bizerte, Tunisia.”

“I know the pain this message has caused you and it is my hope that in time the knowledge of your heroic service to your country, even unto death, may be of great comfort to you,” Dunlop wrote.

Three years later, Dorothy Wright wrote a letter to Army officers, in which the endless pain of a Gold Star Mother was evident in every line. She told Boyle details about the terrifying minutes after his boat ran into trouble and his fear that his son, “who had a nervous heart and was hard of hearing,” would not be able to hear warnings that the boat was about to reach him. about to capsize.

A photo of Elmer Gay Wright, far right, with his parents Clifford R. Wright, Sr. and Dorothy Gay Wright, in the living room of Howard Wright’s home in East Boothbay. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

“He was a good swimmer; otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to get the boat through the waves in the first place. “Perhaps his heart, which was beating rapidly from nervousness and exertion, collapsed under the strain of swimming and working on the boat,” he wrote. “I just hope he wasn’t temporarily stunned and regained consciousness miles away from any help. Perhaps he clung to something like Lieutenant Boyle did, but no one saw him collapse and his body was among those left floating like driftwood.”

It wasn’t until years later that Howard Wright learned the truth: Frenchman Daniel Chester was shot down by friendly fire, not enemy fire.

He said he’s glad his mother never found out because it would have been very upsetting. But he still wants to know what his brother’s unit was doing on that ship. Relatives of other men in the unit have told him it was a “secret” mission that involved frequent contact with Allied and Axis spies.

Eighty years after losing his brother, Howard Wright wonders what he would make of his 50-year search for answers.

“I would hope you would think I was trying to make sense of a senseless loss. It’s one thing to be killed by the enemy in action, but to be killed by your own in action is a big pill to swallow,” he said, pausing as his voice filled with pain. “He gave his life.”

A portrait of Elmer Gay Wright hangs in his 95-year-old brother’s East Boothbay office. The family knew little about what happened to the young Army soldier, who received the Purple Heart in 1944. Wright, now 95, has spent the last 50 years trying to find answers. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

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