Army Spc. Christopher S. Wright

Died August 19, 2010 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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23, of Tollesboro, Ky.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.; died Aug. 19 in Pech, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire.

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Soldier recalled as true example of a Ranger

The Associated Press

When Christopher Wright joined the Army as a lanky teenager, all he wanted to do was become an Army Ranger.

It was all he could ever talk about, said his friend, Army Spc. Aaron Kleibacker.

“Chris loved what he did and he wouldn’t want to do anything else,” said another friend, Spc. Ethan Gronbeck. “He was a true example of what a Ranger is.”

Wright, 23, of Tollesboro, Ky., died Aug. 19 in Pech, Afghanistan. He was assigned to Hunter Army Airfield. He graduated from Lewis County High School in 2005. He had long wanted to enlist in the military and did so within days of his 18th birthday.

His stepmother, Michele Cochran, said Wright told her he wanted to enlist to protect his family and their freedom.

“He was a man of more courage at his age than you can understand,” she said.

Wright’s teachers at Sacred Heart School in Jeffersonville, Ky., said the soldier had a strong sense of right and wrong and came to visit his old K-8 school while he was on leave.

“He told the kids how right it is to be responsible,” said teacher Lynne Evanczyk.