Army 1st Lt. David T. Wright II

Died September 14, 2009 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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26, of Moore, Okla.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.; died Sept. 14 in Kandahar, Afghanistan of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. Also killed was Sgt. Andrew H. McConnell.

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Soldier remembered at funeral

The Associated Press

NORMAN, Okla. — An Army officer from Moore who was killed in Afghanistan was honored Sept. 22 as a leader and a hero.

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.

Wright’s father is a lieutenant with the Moore police department. Letters from soldiers who served with Wright were read during the service.

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Parents received letter expressing pride in service after retrieving his body

The Associated Press

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.

He didn’t let that training go unused, either. Wright enlisted in the Army and was chosen almost immediately to serve as a platoon leader at Fort Benning, Ga.

“It was 9/11 that did it for David,” the Rev. Randy Nail said at his memorial. “He wanted to do something about it, and he did.”

The 26-year-old was killed Sept. 14 by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. He was assigned to Fort Lewis, Wash.

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.