This previous post gives a longer-term synopsis of Uncle Lee Wright’s life. What is here will repeat a few items from that post.

Uncle Lee graduated from high school in 1936. He then attended Oregon State College on an Army ROTC scholarship, I believe. He graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1940.

(I think it was 1940. I read one newspaper that said in a bio he graduated in 1939, but that seems suspect. Even if Uncle Lee was exceptionally bright and motivated, and I’m sure he was, it seems unlikely that he could complete an engineering degree in less than four years, especially with all the extra time taken for ROTC activities. EE may have been a four-year program in 1940, but 35 years later when I was attending OSU, it was a five-year program. EE had certainly changed over those 35 years, but still it must have been at least four very full years to get an EE degree in 1940.)

Here is Uncle Lee’s senior portrait, which apparently was taken in fall 1939.

I take it the photo below was taken in conjunction with graduation activities in spring 1940.

He seems to be wearing a ceremonial saber or sword of some sort on his belt. I’m not familiar with the significance of that.

When Uncle Lee graduated in June 1940, the US was not yet involved in World War II. So he was not immediately called up to active duty. He worked for Westinghouse in a couple of different locations.

After the US entered the war in December 1941, Uncle Lee was called to active duty sometime in 1942. Here he is apparently leading a convoy out into the Mojave Desert in California on August 3, 1942.

Later that year, or early in 1943, he was stationed in North Carolina. This sets the scene for the next chapter, coming in tomorrow’s post.