WT1C Paul Wright (WWII, Typhoon Cobra)

Remembering WT1C Paul Wright (Spencer)

January 29, 1922 - December 18, 1944

----

WT1C Paul Wright  (Service Number 35382677) was born in Spencer, WV, on January 29, 1922, the son of Romeo "Romie" Wright and Eva (Parsons) Wright. Romie worked as a laborer (1920 Census) and carpenter (1930 Census) in Spencer. Their family consisted of siblings Ernest, Helen, Mabel, Charles, twins Paul and Pauline, and William. Another brother, Frederick, had died in 1918 at age 2.

In 1931, tragedy struck the Wright family. Eva died April 14, 1931 of tuberculosis....soon followed by their daughters Helen (1932) and Mabel (1933), and Helen's husband, Wilbur Rose (1933). On August 27, 1933, Romie (42) married 24-year-old Evelyn Zinn. Just over six years later, Romie succumbed to blood poisoning after surgery (1938). 

In that span-of-time, Paul attended one year of high school in Spencer (1938) before moving in with his aunt and uncle, Clay and Mae Wright. Clay farmed his own land in Ohio, and Paul joined him in farm labor (1940 Census). While several of Wright siblings were adults already, the youngest few were split by Romie's death, with Charles taking in their youngest sibling, William. Paul's twin sister, Pauline, married at 18 in 1941.

Military Service:

Paul enlisted in the United States Navy on July 18, 1940, in Richmond, Virginia (IDPF).

Typhoon Cobra:

The USS Monaghan survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, and many other decisive battles, earning a total of 12 battle stars during WWII. However, the strength and tenacity of the Monaghan was no match for Typhoon Cobra.

Also known as Halsey's Typhoon, Typhoon Cobra struck Task Force 38 of the US Third Fleet beginning December 17, 1944, and worsening on December 18, 1944. Task Force 38 was off the coast of Leyte and in dire need of re-fueling when they began to encounter hurricane-strength winds.

Samuel Cox with The Naval History and Heritage Command says of the USS Monaghan in Typhoon Cobra: "Farragut-class destroyer Monaghan (DD-354) was not so lucky as Dewey and Aylwin. Her fuel tanks were 76 percent full, and although she attempted to ballast down, with great difficulty as valves stuck, it was too late. At 1130, Monaghan lost electric power and the steering engine failed. After several very heavy rolls she foundered just before noon along with 256 of her crew (only six survived). Monaghan had 12 battle stars, having sunk a Japanese midget submarine inside Pearl Harbor during the air attack, served at Midway, performed valiantly in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands, drove the Japanese submarine I-7 onto the rocks in the Aleutians and fought in other battles, but she was defeated by a storm" (Cox, 2019).

Unfortunately, WT1C Paul Wright was one of the 256 lost crew members of the USS Monaghan. His body was never recovered.

Legacy and Survivors:

WT1C Paul Wright is honored at the  West Virginia Veterans Memorial in Charleston, WV, and on the USS Monaghan Memorial Wall Plaque at the National Museum of the Pacific War.

While Paul's body was never recovered, his name is immortalized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. There is also a cenotaph for Paul at the Spencer Memorial Cemetery in Roane County, where his parents and many other family members are buried.

Paul was survived by his wife, Delores Lavona Wright, residing in San Diego at the time Paul was declared dead (IDPF). He was also survived by his aunt and uncle and four of his siblings- older brothers Ernest and Charles, his twin Pauline, and younger brother William. TSGT William Wright was too young to serve during WWII, but served in the US Air Force at a later date.

Note: The only mentions I can find of Paul's wife, as of publication, are in the IDPF and Navy Casualty List. 

Sources and More Information:
  • American Battle Monuments Commission Profile: WT1 Paul Wright
  • Family Search Profile: WT1C Paul Wright
  • Findagrave Profiles: Spencer Memorial Cemetery (cenotaph), Tablets of the Missing
  • Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF): Paul Wright. Accessed with help from Ft. Knox
  • U.S. Census (Accessed through Ancestry): 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950
  • U.S., World War II Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945: Paul Wright (Accessed through Ancestry)
  • US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949 (Accessed through Ancestry)
  • West Virginia Veterans Database (West Virginia Memory Project): Paul Wright

Newspaper Articles, in Chronological Order:

  • [Untitled Photo with Caption]. The Times Record (Spencer). 15 March 1945. Accessed with help from the West Virginia Regional History Center. Photo Source for the image at top, which has been run through Chat GPT for sharpening.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MSGT Richard Glassco Tennant (WWII)

Image
Remembering MSGT Richard Glassco Tennant (Farmington) October 3, 1918 - May 8, 1943 ---- Master Sergeant Richard Glassco Tennant (Service # 15012411) was born October 3, 1918 in Farmington, WV to Loren and Willa "Pearl" (Davis) Tennant.  Loren worked as a telegraph operator (1920 census) for the railroad. Unfortunately, Loren died in 1927, leaving Pearl unemployed in Farmington with their three children- Ruth (11), Richard (8), and Edna (7), living at Parish Run specifically. Richard attended Farmington High School, graduating with the class of 1937. While at Farmington High School, he played baseball and football ("Richard Tennant, Lost in May 1943, Is Reported Dead ," Fairmont Times) .  The 1944 Lincolneer Yearbook says of Richard: "Dick," a bombardier has been missing in the Pacific theater of war since May 8, 1943. He is a graduate of our school in the class of 1937. He enlisted in the Air Corps in 1939 and has been in Panama and the South Pacific sinc...
Read more

Nicholas Regnier (1884-1920)

When scrolling through Woodlawn Cemetery in Fairmont in March of 2023, I was surprised to come across a grave stone written in French. After taking pictures at a variety of angles for the best reading (the stone is fairly worn), I discovered that it read: "Ici Repose Nicolas Regnier mor à l'âge de 36 ans et un mois mor le 26 Décembre 1920". Roughly translated, that's "Here rests Nicolas Regnier died at the age of 36 years and one month died on 26 December 1920". Curious to learn more, I turned to  Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers , which includes newspapers from (among many many others) West Virginia. It had some pretty horrifying results. Here's Nicholas' story. Nicholas Regnier was born November 25, 1884 in Liège, Belgium, the son of Jean François Regnier and Marie Jeanne Sion . He had three siblings- Catherine and Jules, who were twins, and Dennis. Jules immigrated to the U.S. in 1901, with Nicholas following in 1903, as well as ...
Read more

TSGT Mark Douglas Rollins (WWII)

Image
Remembering TSGT Mark Douglas Rollins (Fairmont) December 24, 1916 - November 11, 1944 --- TSGT Mark Douglas Rollins (Service #15171212) was born in Fairmont, WV on December 24, 1916, the son of Mark Hannah Rollins & Helen (Fleming) Rollins. At the time of Mark Douglas' birth, their family resided at 217 Albert Court ( Fairmont West Virginian, December 26, 1916 ).  Mark Hannah worked for the Fairmont Motor Car Company on the corner of 5th Street and Fairmont Avenue as a mechanic, while their family lived at 915 Field Street off of Locust Avenue ( 1918 WWI Draft Card ). By 1920, their family was living at 310 Pennsylvania Avenue (1920 Census) while Mark Hannah worked as a mechanic. In 1927, Mark and Helen divorced and both remarried. The 1930 census shows 13-year-old Mark Douglas Rollins living with his father and step-mother at 219 Madison Street. Mark Hannah was still a mechanic. On November 25, 1936, Mark Douglas married Margaret Elizabeth Rowan at First Presbyterian Church i...
Read more