George Thomas Wright was born at Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York on July 8, 1919. His parents were George Wright (9 Jan 1882 – 1 Oct 1957) and Mary Ann Wright (1881 – 28 May 1963), who were born in England. His parents married about 1905 and immigrated to America about 1906. They became naturalized U.S. citizens in 1914.
He had three older siblings: Harry Wright (4 Jun 1907 – 11 Dec 1972), Lillian M. (Wright) Yost (1909 – 1994), and Beatrice A. (Wright) Feil (1914 – 2004). By 1907 the family lived at Perry, Wyoming County, New York. By 1918 they lived at Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York. In 1940 the family home was at 178 Mather Street in Syracuse. His father was a millwright machinist for L. C. Smith & Brothers Typewriter Company in Syracuse, which later became the Smith Corona Company.
He completed four years of high school, and registered for the draft at Syracuse, New York on October 16, 1940. He was 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighed 140 pounds, and had hazel eyes and brown hair. At that time he worked as an office boy for Syracuse Investment Company at 121 East Genesee Street in Syracuse.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army by 1943 and completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery training. He was assigned as waist gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Claude E. Gatlin Jr. The Gatlin crew completed operational training in the States and was assigned to the 836th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group, at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. The crew arrived at Station 137 by November 28, 1944, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
Sgt Wright and his eight crewmates went missing in action on December 31, 1944, when their aircraft, B-17G 42-97398, went missing during a mission to Hamburg, Germany. After takeoff, the aircraft was never seen in formation, and the aircraft and crew were never found. They probably went down in the North Sea.
Sgt Wright and his crewmates are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England.
B-17G 42-97398 crew:
• Gatlin Jr, Claude E – 2/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Uber, Frank J – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Smathers, Harold E – F/O – Navigator – MIA
• Bybee, Melvin G – Sgt – Togglier – MIA
• King, Robert H – Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Mitchell, Bruce R – Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• Wright, George T – Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – MIA
• Zaiger, Roy J – Sgt – Waist Gunner – MIA
• Kane, Stephen P – Sgt – Tail Gunner – MIA
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com