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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday February 9, 2007 - 3 QEP graduate entered military after high school Continued from page 1 ership led to the defeat of a much larger enemy force without a single Canadian Forces casualty.' Wright's parents, who still reside in Oakville, were just about the last to know about their son's heroic deeds. In a phone conversation with his mother Linda shortly after the firefight he was discreet about his ordeal. "I had heard something on the radio, the day before that there had been a battle and he laughed and said `I wasn't anywhere near that,'" she said. "The next day we opened up the newspaper and there was this article about the battle and it said `Major Michael Wright had just returned to his post when all hell broke loose," laughed Linda. "He's trying to protect us I think." A graduate of QEP High School and former Oakville Beaver carrier, Wright fell into a life in the military. Having been his high school's valedictorian, Wright had a number of post-secondary institutions to choose from after being accepted at Queen's University, McMaster University and University of Toronto, but there was one other institution he showed interest in. "In the fall of his graduating year at high school he just decided to take a look at RMC (Royal Military College) just to see what it had to offer," said Linda. A visit later and Wright was hooked. "We just about fell over backwards when he told us he was going there," laughed Wright's father Peter. After graduating from RMC PHOTO COURTESY CAPT. EDWARD STEWART IN COMMAND: Major Michael Wright of the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry commands his troops in Afghanistan. Wright completed his required five-year term of service. He then made the decision to make the military his career signing on for another 10 years. Since then he has been posted to Shilo, Manitoba with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Regiment. He lives with his wife Hilary their two sons Henry, 4, and Jonas, 2. Wright has done two tours in Bosnia and had been to Afghanistan briefly helping to set up the Canadian headquarters in the early days of the mission. Wright's most recent deployment to Kandahar, which began Aug. 2, has had his parents the most concerned. "Of all the missions he's been on, this is certainly the most stressful from a parental standpoint," said Peter. Wright's parents have found the meetings with other parents and loved ones of deployed soldiers at the local military family resource centre to be invaluable in coping with the danger of their son's profession. "We go to a monthly session there and they talk about the various things that they're going through and what to expect," said Peter. "You certainly realize at that point in time that you're not the only one that's going through this." Wright's parents do get periodic phone calls from their son, but the topic of conversation usually focuses on how the Toronto Maple Leafs are doing and not on what he's up to. When Wright was first deployed to Kandahar, Linda would read the newspapers and watch television to get information every day only to be horrified as the death toll among Canadian soldiers rose. "There were four people killed the day they got there and I was just going out of my mind," she said. Linda phoned her daughter-inlaw for advice and was told to stop watching the news. Recently her son has been in the news, but under much more positive circumstances. Last Tuesday, Wright's parents learned that their son had been nominated for one of Canada's highest military decorations when they received an email from their daughter-in-law. Linda's eyes fill with tears as she describes the pride she takes in her son's accomplishments. "You're always proud of your children no matter what they do but when you hear about something like this it really brings it home," she said. "He has always been a really caring person so I'm not really surprised by what he did, that he would put other people's lives above his own." Seeing their son interviewed by Peter Mansbridge on the news only added to the experience. As far as Canada's presence in Afghanistan is concerned Peter and Linda stand by their son. "I do believe because he believes in the cause, so if it's good enough for him to believe in, it's good enough for me to support it," said Peter. Wright's parents are expecting him to return to Canada Feb. 17, with the medal ceremony expected to take place mid-April in Ottawa. GLENLEVEN CHRYSLER C H RYS L E R · J E E P · D O D G E Serving the community for 45 years! 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