Commando News Edition 17 Dec2019

TPR Les Wrights Reply to ACA VIC Dinner
By Leon Wright (Les’ son)
Distinguished guests, members of the Commando
Association, serving members of the Australian
Defence Force, Veterans, ladies and gentlemen. On
behalf of my father, Leslie Thomas Wright, his wife
Mavis and all of our family I would like to thank you for
your kind words and for taking this opportunity to
recognise my father’s service as part of the Australian
Commando Squadrons. It is a kind gesture and very
much appreciated by all our family.
My father’s long association with the Australian
Army Commando Squadron, and the Australian
Commando Association have long been a source of
pride for dad and a firm foundation for a life well lived.
In September 2016, with grateful assistance from
the Australian War Memorial, members of our family
were able to take Dad to Canberra to see the
Australian Flag that had been signed by members of
the 2/4th Commando Squadron when the flag was
raised on Tarakan in May 1945. Dad’s initials appear in
the centre of the Federation Star. Amongst those sig -
natures are not only the names of those young men
lost and wounded in the fighting, but also a group of
men, who through their service, would be forever
linked as Australian Commandos.
We all know and have experienced some of the
memory loss that comes with age, but looking at those
signatures on the flag, dad was able to remember each
soldier and share with us remarkable stories of ordinary
men who would do extraordinary things when Australia
needed it most. Those signatures, on that flag, were so
much more than just names. They represented every -
thing that the Commando Squadrons, the Australian
Army, the Australian people and this Association stand
for and believe in.
The Australian Army speaks of its core values as
courage, initiative, respect and teamwork, and with the
friends he has made and the relationships nurtured
since he enlisted on 1942 (77 years ago), have given
dad a lot of joy and happiness, and personify these
values.
As a family we are extremely proud of what our
father has achieved. Not just as a soldier but as a
husband, father, brother, grandfather and great grand -
father. It is difficult to accurately express our thanks for
the recognition and honour you have given dad
tonight but please be assured that to recognise dad’s
service in this way, is sincerely appreciated and will not
be forgotten.
Again, thank you for your kind words and this
incredible honour.
Leon Wright
22 COMMANDO NEWS ~ Edition 17 I 2019