HomeMy WebLinkAboutGeorge Cox, Brazos Valley HeroOne in a series of tributes to members of "The Greatest Generation"
By Bill Youngkin
Special to The Eagle
First of Two Parts
It is said that time stands still for no man. For George Cox of
the Cooks Point Community of Burleson County, on June 6, 2004,
as he stood on Utah Beach Normandy for the 60th anniversary
of the D -Day invasion, time not only stood still, it came roaring
back.
The time that came back for him was June 6, 1944, a day
that Cox, a scared young Texan, along with thousands of other
scared young men, came ashore for the D -Day invasion of France.
His photo above was taken beside a rock on Utah Beach, exactly
where he came ashore 60 years prior.
Life for Cox began March 21, 1921, 88 years ago, in Houston.
He attended and graduated from Milby High in Houston in 1941.
That summer he married the bride of his life, Leona, and they
have celebrated 67 years of marriage together.
When the war started, Cox was hopeful that he would not
be part of it.
According to Cox, "When the war broke out, I was married
and had a job as an iron worker at the Humble Oil refinery,
which usually entitled you to a draft deferment. We were also
expecting our first child when my draft notice came. So many of
my friends I had gone to school with were already serving and I
guess, because of that I decided not to till my employer about
my draft notice. -
"When I showed up at the induction center, I passed my
physical, was sworn in and sent to Ft. Sam Houston. They sent
me along with 700 others to Camp Rucker, Alabama, for basic
training and to be formed into the 746th Tank Battalion. When
I asked for a furlough so I could be home for the birth of my
son, my sergeant said women had been having babies forever
without men being around, and my wife wouldn't need me
either. I didn't getto see my son until he was six weeks old, when
I had my only furlough of the war.
"Upon my return we were sent to Virginia, then (amp Shank,
New York, for boarding a passenger ship for Scotland. There were
over 10,000 of us on that ship. Wezig- zagged our way across the
Atlantic without an escort, outrunning the German U -boats the
whole way.
"We ended up at Fairfield, England, where we were issued
new tanks and equipment. We trained for what we all knew
would be an invasion of France. About the 2nd or 3rd of June
we headed to the beach for loading of our tanks on barges,
and on the 5th of June we headed across the Channel. It was a
rough crossing, and all of us got sick on the way over. We were
supposed to hit the beach at 7:30 a.m. on June 6, 1944, but we
didn't get on the beach until 11:30 a.m.
"We had prepared to land in water, and it was seven feet
deep where we landed. I was our tank commander, and when I
held my arm out of the hatch of our tank, it was just above the
water. We landed on a beach that history would refer to as Utah
Beach. The infantry boys had gotten off the beach to join up with
the 101st and 82nd Airborne Division, which had parachuted in
the night before. All the routes off the beach were clogged up
by destroyed equipment, bomb craters or something else. We
managed to get eight miles inland before stopping at 11p.m.
that night. That is why D -Day was called'The Longest Day'in the
movie by the same name.
"We set up a perimeter guard, scared to death and not really
knowing what to be scared of. The next morning we joined up
with portions of the 101st that were pinned down by the
Germans. That day, June 7,1944, was also the day I became one
of the first causalities of my company.
'The first German I saw was behind a woodpile shooting at
us. There were 54 of our tanks in line and I was the last one. Our
captain directed us down a road to our left and we immediately
ran into an SS Panzer Tank Unit. I had just turned by this church
when our engagement started. We had fired six to eight of our
big shells with good results, as we could see Germans flying
through the air with each shell's impact. I was looking through
my periscope when the Germans shot the top two inches of it
off.
"That knocked me down. While I was knocked down and
trying to retrieve another periscope, the Germans shot and killed
my gunner. The next shell that hit us wounded three more in the
crew, so I yelled for them to go out the bottom of the tank. We
were hit by a bazooka shell, which caused shrapnel to hit my
right eye, temple, hand and shoulder.
"I really couldn't see, as the flames in the tank had burned
off my eyelashes and my facial hair. I jumped out of the turret
and landed in a sewer drainage ditch which I followed back to
the 101st guys. Some medics came by with a guy on a litter. I
caught hold of one of their belts because I couldn't see anything
by now, and they led me to an aid station. They patched me up
and sent me back to England, where they removed the shrapnel
from my eye. After four days in the hospital my burned face
began to heal and my eyesight returned. I recovered enough
that I was returned to my unit on July 28, 1944, which was
now located at St. Lo, France. When we returned for the 60th
anniversary of D -Day, I stood beside that church where our tank
was hit.1 remembered every bit of it like it was yesterday. All of
it, to include the smells."
Next week: Part two of George Cox's story.
If you want to have a name added to the Veterans
Memorial, for more information, to make a contribution, or
ff you know a World War 11 veteran whose story needs to be
told, contact the BVVM at www.bvvm.org or Bill Youngkin at
(979) 160 -7030.
V int I i f"11
3
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One in a series of tributes to members of "The Greatest Generation"
By Bill Youngkin
Special to the Eagle
Second of Two Parts
It is often said that "war is hell," which R can be for those
involved. But It is also tough on the families back home. The
story of George and Leona Cox of the Cooks Point Community of
Burleson County is one thatwas all too common during World War
I.
George and Leona were newlyweds when he was drafted
in 1942. They had a son born shortly after he entered the army.
Leona was living with George's parents in Houston while he
participated in the D -Day invasion on June 6, 1944. He was
wounded and temporarily blinded on June 7, 1944, his second
day on French soil. Cox's tank was so badly shot up and burned
that he was initially thought to be dead. But since they had not
recovered his body, he was reported as missing in action.
According to Leona, who was back in Houston, "There were
11 boys from our little church in Houston who were off in the
war. Every morning I gathered with members of those boys'
families and we prayed for the safe return of each one. I just felt
that George would come home, because I truly believed in the
power of prayer. But when I saw two soldiers come to our front
door, I thought they were coming to tell me George was dead. We
all were aware of D -Day and the terrible losses and we thought
George was probably involved.
"Much to my relief, they came to inform me he was missing in
action. Later I received a telegram reporting that he was wounded
and had been blinded. I was just glad he was alive. His first letter
after that was to let know his sight had returned and he was going
to be alright. We continued to pray daily until the end of the war
for those 11 boys. Our prayers were answered, because all 11 came
home -some like George, with injuries, but they all came home"
According to Cox, "I rejoined my unit on July 28, 1944, just
outside St. Lo, France. I was given a new tank and a new crew. We
pushed on to the Falaise Gap, chasing the German army. We were
now part of the 9th Infantry Division. We drove south of Paris by
30 miles and then headed for Belgium, sometimes making 100
miles in one day. We ended up at Eupen, Belgium, just across the
German borderfrom Aachen, Germany.
"We crossed the Siegfried Line into Germany on September
13, 1944. The recent photo of me was taken on our tour we went
on for the 60th anniversary of D -Day and I am standing next to
the concrete barriers that were built after World War I and used
in the Siegfried Line. On December 15, 1944, we were sent back
across the line into Belgium because the Battle of the Bulge had
started.
"We were lucky during the Battle of the Bulge in that
we were in the'hinge of the'Bulge and were used primarily as
artillery support. We were able to sleep inside houses and nay
warm while most of the GIs were almost freeainq to death. About
the end of January we started to push back againstthe Germans.
That would continue until the end of the war.
"The problem with invading Germany was getting over the
Rhine River, as most bridges had been blown by the Germans. We
got word that the bridge over the Rhine at Remagen had been
captured. The whole 9th Armored Division headed for Remagen,
traveling all night long. After we got there, we tried to get as
many men and as much material over as fast as we could. We
were trying to build a pontoon bridge, but R wasn't completed
yet and the Germans were throwing everything they could at us
to keep us from going over the Remagen Bridge and completing
that pontoon bridge.
"I made five trips across before the Remagen Bridge
collapsed. When it did collapse, a lot of GIs went down with ft. On
one occasion across, we were attacked by a German fighter plane.
He was turned sideways, banking over the bridge. I was firing my
rifle at him as was everyone else. You could see our tracers hitting
him. He just kept coming, just missing the bridge and crashing
into the river.
"When our army crossed over the Rhine a lot of guys used the
bathroom in the river - to include General Patton, who made a big
deal about it. I lost my best friend a couple of days later after we
crossed the Rhine. He was from Conroe and we had been together
from the start. I was issued a new tank and a new crew after we
crossed the Rhine, and we chased Germans all the way to the Elbe
River. At the Elbe we had Germans swimming across to surrender
to us to get away from the Russians. When the war ended, we
were sent south between Nuremberg and Munich.
"If you didn't have enough points to get discharged, you were
trained and shipped out for the invasion of Japan. You had to have
85 points and I had 88.1 was glad to be going home. The guys
that were sent to fight Japan were shipped out for the Pacific, but
while they were on their way, the war ended. As a result, they
beat us home. I shipped home to Texas and was discharged in
November 1945.
"I returned to the iron - working business and eventually
went to work for Charter Oil at the Houston port, retiring in 1975.
We built our home in Burleson County in 1971 and I have lived,
farmed and ranched here since.
"After I went back to Europe for the 60th anniversary for
D -Day I have thought about that time in my fife a lot.I didn'twant
to serve to begin with because I had a wife and baby. But after
going on to serve, I'm very proud that l did. And I am proud of
what we did. At one of the ceremonies they held and attended,
I was asked to participate with some British veterans in a
ceremony. They were placing wreaths at our memorial, and while
I was standing there with them for the placing of wreaths on our
memorial, I just couldn't keep the tears out of my eyes."
Ifyou wantto have anameadded tothe lieteransMemodal,
for more information, to make a contribution, or if you know a
World War II veteran whose story needs to be told, contort the
BWM at www.bvvm.org or Bill Youngkin at (979) 260 -7030.
who served our country during World War II