Lonnie D. Wright 1919

Lonnie D. Wright 1919 - 2018

As one of the few remaining veterans of the “Greatest Generation” Lonnie wanted to reach 100 but was three weeks short of his 99th birthday when he was taken from us. He died peacefully surrounded by family at Hays Medical Center on Aug. 10, 2018 from complications of a heart attack. Lonnie was born in Cuthan, Texas, on Aug. 30, 1919 to Ira and Ona (Eaves) Wright. He grew up in Nebraska and graduated from North Platte High School in 1938. Enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps in Jan. 1940 he became an inflight engineer and aerial gunner on a B17 Flying Fortress. He was stationed at Hickham Field, Hawaii, and survived the Japanese attack of Dec. 7, 1941 with a perforated eardrum from a near miss bomb blast. He was later assigned to the 19th Heavy Bomber Group’s