Harold S. Wright
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Harold S. Wright (born November 9, 1918) is a U.S. Army officer and lawyer from Honolulu, Hawaii. He was the son of Harold S. Wilkinson of Nelson, England and Julia Wright (later named Julia Gilman) of Honolulu.
Wright graduated with honors from both St. Louis High School and the University of Hawaii. He attended the university on a competitive scholarship awarded by the then Territory of Hawaii, and was selected Student Body President in his senior year.
[edit] Military career
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Wright, an ROTC officer at the University of Hawaii, volunteered to serve with the Territorial Guard, and in March of 1941, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant with the U.S. Army. He participated as an infantry officer in the Marshalls and Marianas campaigns, and was awarded a pair of battle stars for combat. He was promoted to captain and then major in Military Intelligence and the General Staff Corps. Wright's duties included briefing the General of the Central Pacific Command and his staff on the daily war situation, transmitted by top secret radiograms. When the war ended, he was assigned the responsibility of recording the history of Central Pacific Operations.
[edit] Legal career
After five years of military service, Wright attended Harvard Law School on the GI Bill of Rights, where he graduated in 1949. He married June McCormack of Brookline, Massachusetts and returned to Hawaii.
Wright joined the Honolulu firm of Smith, Wild, Beebe and Cades (later named Cades, Schutte, Fleming, & Wright) and became partner three years later. He practiced as a trial attorney for ten years before specializing in real estate and banking law. He represented First Hawaiian Bank, Bank of Hawaii, Amfac, Alexander & Baldwin, Theo H. Davies & Co., Bishop Trust Co., Honolulu Advertiser (tax litigation), Honolulu Star Bulletin (tax litigation), and other companies. As a specialist in loans for the construction of hotels and condominiums, he became local counsel for many national banks and insurance companies, including Citicorp, Bank of America, Bank of New York, Congen Insurance Company, Hartford Insurance Company, John Hopkins Insurance Company, and others.
[edit] Other achievements
Wright was a member of the Arizona War Memorial Commission, and, as Chairman, he initiated the establishment of the Arizona War Memorial Museum. He was also a member of the American and State bar associations and the Outrigger Canoe Club. He was a subject of biographical record in Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World. He has 3 children: the novelist Kirby Wright, Julie A. Wright, and Barry H. Wright.
