Hand colored photos by Vietnamese artist at a Saigon studio commissioned by Sp5 Wright & presented as anniversary gifts for wife Ouida, shortly before his death.

SAN FRANCISCO - This July, the U.S. and Vietnam are commemorating 15 years of the Bilateral Trade Agreement. This July is also the first anniversary of the death of Vietnam War era Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. And this July, beyond the headlines and ongoing global impact of the U.S. Vietnam War, Jackie Wright, a familiar face in the Asian community, is gathering her family in San Francisco over the July 4th weekend to honor the legacy of her own family's Vietnam War Hero.

Jackie Wright worked for the Red Cross from 1990-2000 and participated in many China disaster fund raising efforts. One of the first groups she worked with in raising funds and awareness was the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association. She has also worked with Dr. Edward Chow and Dr. Rolland Lowe of the Chinese Community Health Association to create a disaster preparedness program to train 300 monolingual Chinese speakers in Red Cross CPR and First Aid.

Today Jackie Wright (56) and her siblings Joe Wright (54), Stanley Wright (51) and Phyllis Cameron (46), are hosting the reunion to honor their father Specialist 5 Wiley Wright and celebrate the Simmons Family. Sp5 Wright was an only child and was just two weeks shy of returning to the U.S. when he was killed on March 9, 1964 during his last mission as an honor guard for then Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara who was visiting troops in Vietnam. Wiley was survived by his wife, Ouida (29), and their four children, Jackie (10), Joe (8), Stanley (6) and Phyllis (6 months).

Over 46 years later, the children of Sp5 Wyley Wright and Ouida F. McLendon Wright, will honor their father and his legacy during The Simmons Family Reunion at the historic Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, July 1-5, 2010.

It was not until the mid '90's that the Wright children reconnected with the cousins of Sp5 Wright via the Simmons Family Reunion that is held every two years, mostly in the Southeast and Eastern Seaboard.
One of the key highlights of this year's Simmons Family Reunion will their family banquet at the Empress of China Restaurant.

"I wanted my family to experience the multiculturalism of San Francisco and specifically the Asian culture so we chose the Empress of China in the hear of Chinatown for our major activity," says Jackie Wright. "My father poured his life into this country and he had much respect for the people of Vietnam. The earliest correspondence of my father from Vietnam included photos he took of Vietnamese workers with comments commending their hard work."

Jackie, who knew their father was among the first war heroes who were called "advisers" ordered to Vietnam by then President John F. Kennedy, began finding out more about her father and the unit from a website for the 114th Aviation Company that had been based in Fort Knox, Kentucky and served during the Vietnam era from 1963-1972.

As the Bilateral Trade Agreement celebrates its 15th year, families healing on both sides are grappling with the mistake of the Vietnam War. In an article for the Brookings Institution, Ta Minh Tuan, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Center for Foreign Policy & Regional Studies, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam gave some statistics that indicates the on-going healing that needs to take place: thousands of divided families who still yearn to know what happened to their 300,00 loved ones missing in action; two million people were exposed to the chemical defoliant Agent Orange and an estimated 50,000 deformed children have been born to parents exposed to the herbicide; and millions of mines remain with more than 100,00 people being wounded since the war ended in 1975.

The Wright Family chose San Francisco to continue its healing.

"I once wrote an article titled "Dead Men Tell No Tales, but Their Children Do" and because we should tell our stories beyond our parents' lives, we must teach our children well," said Jackie. "We as the human family must share our histories with each other so that future generations will not continue to repeat the mistakes of the past."