Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army
“We were in boxcars again with very little food and water, and the wounded, who received no care at all, were in the same cars with us,” said Hiram Wright about the trip to Oflag 64 POW camp in Poland, 1944.
“In January, 1945 … I was still wearing the same clothes I had on when captured (July, 1944) … not suitable for the hard winter weather.”
Hiram J. Wright, a native of Jonesville, Louisiana, attended LSU from 1940 until 1943, when he was called to active duty. Following his ordeal as a prisoner of war, he returned to LSU and graduated with a law degree in 1948. He practiced law from 1948 until 1973 when he was appointed to the 8th Judicial District Court. He was elected to the same office in 1974 and served until his retirement in 1984.
Second Lieutenant Hiram J. Wright, I Company, 3rd Battalion, 357th Regiment, was assigned to the 90th Division during the D-Day invasion in 1944 and became part of General Troy Middleton’s VIII Corps. On July 3, Wright led I Company in a disastrous four-mile drive against German defenses, and 4,000 men were lost that day. Wright’s company reached its objective and dug in, waiting for the rest of the Division, which never arrived. They fought the Germans savagely until they ran out of ammunition and were forced to surrender.
Wright spent six months marching across Germany to several prisoner of war camps, starving, freezing, sick and sometimes in solitary confinement. Finally, in January 1945, the advancing Russians freed Wright and fellow American soldiers from the Germans. The Russians took the prisoners to Odessa for processing, and they were transported to the American base in Naples, Italy. Wright returned to the United States in April 1945.
One comfort during his captivity was the group of LSU alumni in Camp Oflag 64. Along with Wright were Robert Breazeale, Sidney Farr, Boyce Nunnally, Austin Charlton and Teddy Roggin.
Honors and medals Wright received included the Bronze Star; the American Campaign Medal; the European/African/Middle East Campaign Medal with two Bronze Stars; the Combat Infantry Badge; the Expert Infantry Badge and the POW Medal.
Wright kept a diary during his time as a POW and in it describes in vivid detail the horrors of his captivity. He passed away on January 9, 2002.
LSU and Cadets of the Ole War Skule posthumously honored Wright through induction into the LSU Military Hall of Honor in 2016.