Remember...
James Blaine Cox
1946-1967
"Heroism doesn't always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history."
Mary Roach
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Remember...James Blaine Cox
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James Blaine ("Bud") Cox was born on May 25, 1946, in Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia. His parents were James Blake Cox (1923-2010) and Betty Jane Woodyard Cox (1926-2006). James was commonly known as Bud, Buddy, Jim, or Jimmy to his family and friends, but never by James as that was his father's name. His sister, Patricia Cox Schultz, was one year older than Bud. In 1950, a brother, David Ray Cox, was born but died shortly after birth. While growing up in Parkersburg, Bud attended Parkersburg High School, was a member of the Woodworking Club, and graduated in 1965. At some point during his childhood, his parents divorced, and they both later remarried.
During Bud's teenage years, the Vietnam War was in full swing with the U.S. backing the South Vietnamese with full military support. The Vietnam War lasted from November 1, 1955, to April 30, 1975. In an attempt to try to prevent the spread of communism, the United States entered the War with Vietnam. North Vietnamese boats attacked two United States destroyers on August 5, 1964, giving the U.S. president new authority to declare war.
In February 1965, President Johnson ordered the bombing of targets in North Vietnam in Operation Flaming Dart in retaliation for a Viet Cong raid at the U.S. base in the city of Pleiku and at a nearby helicopter base at Camp Holloway. In March, President Johnson launched a three-year campaign of sustained bombing of targets in North Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Operation Rolling Thunder. The same month, U.S. Marines land on beaches near Da Nang, South Vietnam, as the first American combat troops to enter Vietnam. In July 1965, President Johnson called for 50,000 more ground troops to be sent to Vietnam, increasing the draft to 35,000 each month. By 1969, more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were stationed in Vietnam.
James "Bud" Cox enlisted in the U.S. Marines on December 14, 1965, at the Louisville Recruiting Office in Kentucky and listed Washington, West Virginia, as his home of record. His service number was 2199628, and his military occupation specialty (MOS) was 0331: M60 machine gunner. Bud took his boot camp training at Parris Island, South Carolina, and infantry training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. After his training, Bud was stationed in Cuba for a period of time before he was issued orders and deployed for Vietnam.
| By the time Bud Cox arrived in Vietnam on May 14, 1967, he held the rank of corporal. He was assigned to 3rd Platoon, Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Amphibious Force. Bud received a shrapnel wound to the back of his leg May 24, 1967, in the vicinity of Gio Linh District. He was medical evacuated, recovered aboard the USS Princeton, and returned to the field June 10, 1967. |  |
In December 1967, the 3rd Marine Regiment participated in Operation Auburn. In order to preempt any such concentration of the enemy local and main force units, the 5th Marines at the end of December initiated a spoiling action, code named Operation Auburn, on Go Noi Island. Located 10 kilometers inland from the South China Sea, the Go Noi is not a true island, but is simply an area bounded on all sides by rivers. Remains of the National Railroad tracks (known to the Marines as the "B&O") bisected the island. Hedges and bamboo thickets literally formed walls around these rural communities. The terrain between the hamlets varied and included untended rice paddies overgrown with vegetation, open sandy areas, high elephant grass, and cemeteries with tall grave mounds.
Operation Auburn was to be part of a larger operation involving both the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Quang Da Special Zone Command and the Americal Division. The Marine units were to establish blocking positions along the abandoned railroad tracks. After the Marines were in position, three ARVN battalions starting from Route 1 would then attack from the East to West along Route 537, pushing any enemy units into the Marines. Operation Auburn was slated to begin at 9:00 on December 28, when Marine helicopters were to bring Company E, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, into Landing Zone Hawk, an abandoned dried-up rice paddy, just east of the railroad and about 1,000 meters south of the Ky Lam River.
The following summary of the operation in which Cpl. Cox was killed is from a statement by William Jennings Smith Jr., Lance Corporal, 2151311, USMC Radioman, 3rd Platoon, Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, lst Marine Division:
On December 27, 1967, we left 2/3's area for Operation Auburn to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines T.A.O.R. (Tactical Area of Responsibility). On December 28, 1967, about 10 o'clock, we were on the last series of choppers to leave the LZ (Landing Zone), and we had heard that the first series had taken some incoming rounds, so they held up our series from leaving. We were under fire as soon as we hit the LZ until about 5 o'clock in the afternoon. The chopper we were in took two rounds. We got off the chopper and went to the "graveyard," which was filled with pungy stakes, even pungy stakes for the chopper. They moved the LZ back about 200 meters, which landed us in a rice paddy, so they moved down the 1st and 2nd Platoons. As soon as we got to the graveyard where the LZ was supposed to be, we already heard word on the radio that 1st platoon got six KIAs (killed in action) and about four WIAs (wounded in action). The C.O. (Commander) called 3rd Platoon and told us to come up and help the 1st Platoon. We moved up on the right flank to where the 1st Platoon was located and started helping them bring back the KIAs and the WIAs while air strikes were going on. The enemy fired on us for about maybe a half hour; then the firing died down quite a bit.That's when the Company Gunny got it and the squad leader from our 3rd Platoon, Cpl. Cox, got killed. Our platoon commander, Sgt. Morgan, was helping us with the 1st Platoon bring up the KIAs. After the air strikes, the Huey gunships came in and cleaned up the area. Firing continued back and forth for some time.
They had us pinned down. We couldn't move; they just had too much fire power for us. We called for assistance, and they told us 2nd Platoon was going to come up. We called again a few minutes later and asked what the position of 2nd Platoon was, and at that time they said they couldn't come up because they were pinned down at the same time. We got the word from the CO that we had to pull back; we couldn't get any reinforcements. At this point I think Sgt. Morgan had already been wounded; he was later killed.
A corporal, Johnny Barker, took over the platoon, and we got the word to pull back. We weren't going to pull back unless we had all the dead and wounded with us. We passed the word along the line and were told that all the wounded were accounted for, so we started pulling back. We had to crawl all the way back from the tree line, about 225 meters. That's where the company had a command post. We had 10 KIAs in the 3rd Platoon and 11 WIAs. We didn't get any reinforcements the first day. The way the ambush was set up at the LZ, you could tell that they had known we were coming about a week prior to when we landed. ("Operation Auburn," Echo Company Marines [2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines] website, accessed 2 August 2022, http://www.echo23marines6569.org/Auburn.html.)
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Cpl. James Cox's remains were recovered and sent back to the U.S. He served his country for 2 years and 14 days and was KIA #19470. He had been in Vietnam for 7 months and 14 days, and he was only 21 years old. The funeral services were conducted by the Leavitt Funeral Home. Cpl. Cox was laid to rest with full military honors on January 6, 1968, at Bethany Cemetery located in New England, Wood County, West Virginia. |
Cpl. James Bud Cox will always be remembered as he is honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial located in Washington, D.C., on Panel 32E, Line 87. He is also honored at the West Virginia Veterans Memorial located in Charleston, West Virginia.
These are some of the awards and decorations that Cpl. James Blaine Cox could have possibly earned: the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, and the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal. ("James Blaine Cox,", accessed 2 August 2022, https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=267964.)
On January 12, 2022, the West Virginia Legislature introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 5 wherein they requested the Division of Highways name bridge number 54-068/00-009.73 (54A259), (39.19674, -81.65356), locally known as "Race Track Bridge," carrying West Virginia Route 68 over the North Fork of Lee Creek in Wood County, as the "U.S. Marine Corps CPL James 'Bud' Cox Memorial Bridge." The resolution states that it is fitting that an enduring memorial be established to commemorate U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. James "Bud" Cox and his sacrifice to our state and country.
MAJ (Ret) T. Brad McGee, George Washington High School, JROTC
August 2022
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.