PFC Robert Arle Wright, 18 of Whitesville, was Killed in Action July 16, 1950 during the Battle of Kum River near Taejon, Republic of Korea. He was born January 1, 1932 in Whitesville, Kentucky to the late Frederick and Mary Helen Wright. He was a 1949 graduate of St. Mary’s High School, and was a member of St Mary of the Woods Catholic Church. Private First Class Wright was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in South Korea on July 16, 1950, and presumed dead on Dec. 31, 1953. His status was changed to “Accounted For” on August 15, 2022, after conclusive DNA testing. Seventy-two years later, his remains will be brought home, on Tuesday, December 6, 2022. Arrival in Whitesville is expected around 5:00 pm.
At the time of his death, he was survived by his parents, Frederick E. and Mary Helen (Sapp) Wright who have long since passed away; and was one of 13 children, none surviving today, Lillia Agnes Wright, William Frederick Wright, Lawrence L. Wright, Philip Elmo Wright, Mary Ethel Conder, Martha Pauline Mills, Gertrude Elizabeth Johnson, Anna Grace Howard, Edgar Dowell Wright, James Byron Wright, Marion Damian Wright, Louis Herman Wright. Survivors include many nieces and nephews, and cousins.
Funeral Mass will be 10:00 a.m. Friday, December 9, 2022 at St. Mary of the Woods Catholic Church in Whitesville, Ky. Burial will follow with full military honors, in St Mary Cemetery. Visitation will be from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Thursday December 8, 2022 at Cecil Funeral Home in Whitesville, with prayers at 7:30pm. The family requests expressions of sympathy to St. Mary’s Building Fund, 10534 Main Cross Street, Whitesville, Kentucky 42378.
Online messages of condolence may be made at www.cecilfuneralhome.com