California State University East Bay Global Innovators MBA Degree To Be Conferred on Sunday, June 12th Marks Academic Accomplishment & Family History in Vietnam War For One Graduate
A babe in arms when her father died in Vietnam, Phyllis Wright Cameron, one of the thousands of graduates across
California and the nation, gained a new perspective on the Vietnam War as a result of her studies at CSUEB.
Hayward, CA-Commencement ceremonies for the University of California State University East Bay, gets underway Sunday, June 12th at 9:00 a.m. in the University Stadium. Phyllis Wright Cameron of Antioch will be among those receiving the Global Innovators Masters of Business Administration diploma.
Commencement ceremonies for the University of California State University East Bay, gets underway Sunday, June 12th at 9:00 a.m. in the University Stadium. Phyllis Wright Cameron of Antioch will be among those receiving the Global Innovators Masters of Business Administration diploma.
Cameron, who was six months old when her father, Sp5 Wyley Wright Jr. died in Vietnam, had no idea when she signed up for the master's program that it would bring her new insights about her father and the place where he took his last breath in service to the United States of America.
In 2014, Cameron and her siblings Jackie Wright of San Francisco, Joe Wright of Columbus, GA and Stanley Wright of Orangeburg, SC had their father, Sp5 Wyley Wright Jr., who died as an honor guard for then Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara on March 9, 1964, reburied with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
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"Just a few weeks ago, President Obama was the first U.S. President to go to Vietnam since the war, demonstrating the need for the on going healing of the breach brought by the Vietnam War, and in a sense we Wrights were the avant-garde for that journey. As private citizens, we went to Ho Chi Minh City and Vinh Long in June 2015 to see the land and the people that will be a part of our country's history forever, " said Cameron. "My sister and I met with the family of the Vietnamese Photographer who made our father's last anniversary gifts for his deeply cherished wife, Ouida Fay and we performed a short ceremony on the Mekong River honoring our Dad, his comrades and the people of Vietnam."
Wyley and Ouida Fay Wright celebrated their 11th Anniversary in January of 1964 and he died two months later on March 9th. Six years later, Ouida Fay died on March 9, 1970 when Cameron was six years old. Motivated by the realization that their Fallen Hero Father was buried in an un-kept segregated cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida, the Wright siblings pooled their resources to have their father reburied at Arlington National Cemetery. In addition, they had their mother exhumed from the historic Green Acres Cemetery in Columbus, Georgia so she could be buried with her husband, whom she followed to all of the military bases at which he was stationed.
Fifty years later, almost to the day of when they were separated in life, on March 10, 2014, during the 50th Celebration of the Civil Rights Movement and the 150th Commemoration of Arlington National Cemetery, Sp5 Wyley Wright Jr. and Ouida Fay McClendon Wright were laid to rest in a ceremony the Wrights titled, "Love Separated in Life…Love Reunited in Honor."
(prlog.org article https://www.prlog.org/12563783-csueb-mba-vietnam-war-history.html continued from here)
Life has a way of going on and nearly six months after the ceremony, Cameron found out that her MBA class would be going to Vietnam. A month before the class departure with eldest sister Jackie giving Phyllis instructions of making sure she would go to certain sites to discover history about their father, it became evident that Jackie should join Phyllis. The sisters embarked upon the journey three days ahead of the class to hopefully find the Shannon-Wright base named after Wright and a fellow 114th Aviation Company comrade, helicopter pilot 1Lt. Kenneth Arthur Shannon, who died March 15, 1964. The 114th Aviation Company base in Vinh Long, Vietnam was named in their honor, something the Wrights did not know as kids growing up near Fort Benning, GA.
"It was miraculous, as if everything was already laid out for us and we had answered a call to an invitation," said Cameron. "At 7:30 in the morning after our arrival, we met our guide Hung Phan Ngoc arranged through Joe Lucero of realchinagroup.com. Mr. Hung was very friendly and knowledgeable about the Vietnam War. We drove about three hours to Vinh Long and 'bam, bam, bam,' we achieved our goals in one day. We found the Shannon Wright base and airstrip that is now a boulevard. We were looking for the studio of the Vietnamese Photographer Quang Van Phat and found not only it, but also his daughter Quang Thi Anh Dao, who had become a photographer herself and Quang's lovely beautiful wife. And finally, we bought a wreath and flowers and held a short ceremony on the Mekong River bank to honor our Dad, a helicopter crew chief and PFC John Francis Shea, a 20 year old gunner of Willimantic, Connecticut who died in the helicopter crash with our father and we honored others affected by the war," added Cameron.
As Cameron's class arrived on June 18, Jackie headed back to the states the following day. Phyllis and her classmates spent ten days in Vietnam including "Father's Day." They traveled from Ho Chi Minh City to Hue and ultimately Hanoi studying various companies in each city.
Life happens as demonstrated through the lives of the cohorts of the 2016 Global Innovators MBA Class. The students put together the first ever year book for the program and it chronicled births, deaths, weddings and their Vietnam Journey including a photo of Phyllis meeting her past in what could only be described as a "God orchestrated moment" as she met the Quang Family. The journey was also included in the spring issue of The Marines' Memorial Association Magazine: http://form-and-content.epaperflip.com/v/Crossroads-Spring-2016/ - ?page=12
When Phyllis Wright Cameron, a wife, mother and insurance industry expert, grasps her diploma on Sunday, June 12th, she will grab the past and future as a baton passed on in a relay race. The past efforts of study and life's moments brought her to this point in time and now with the California State University East Bay MBA Global Innovators diploma in hand, she will run on to new accomplishments and insights.
"I thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for unfolding such a rich experience that began with the whim of a thought to get my MBA. I had no idea I'd find out so much about the world and myself, " said Cameron.
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Editor's Note: Phyllis Wright Cameron is available for interviews leading up to Sunday and after graduation ceremonies, Sunday, June 12th at California State University East Bay Stadium. Speak with Phyllis directly at 510 326-1982 or Jackie Wright at 415 525 0410 for assistance in arranging an interview.
Images and video can be found on the Internet by searching Sp5 Wyley Wright Jr.
Related Articles include:
Veterans Don't Serve Alone
http://www.wrightnow.biz/apps/articles/web/articleid/81840/columnid/2898/default.asp
Sisters Find Shannon Wright Compound at Vinh Long, Vietnam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-Drc0kdRxw
Mekong River Ceremony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVSQNOKj5M
Love Story at Arlington
http://sfbayview.com/2015/04/love-story-at-arlington-national-cemetery/
From Arlington to Vietnam
http://form-and-content.epaperflip.com/v/Crossroads-Spring-2016/ - ?page=12