LIEUTENANT WENDELL P. WRIGHT, while serving as a Lieutenant (jg), Mr. Wright received the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism as a pilot of a dive bomber in Bombing Squadron TWENTY, attached to the U.S.S. ENTERPRISE, during action against units of the Japanses Fleet in the Battle for Leyte Gulf, October 25, 1944. Flying as wingman on a search and attack mission when an enemy task force was sighted and his division assigned an aircraft carrier as a target, Lieutenant (then Ensign) Wright defied the withering barrages of antiaircraft fire to dive low over the warship and release his bombs at perilously low altitudes to score direct hits which started fires and contributed materially to the infliction of extensive damage on the Japanese vessel. His superb airmanship, inspiring courage and unwavering devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon Lieutenant Junior Grade, Wright and the United States Naval Service.

LT Wright joined the Legion of Valor in 1971.