TSGT Samuel Fox II (WWII)


Remembering TSGT Samuel "Sam" Fox II (Fairmont)

July 11, 1924 - June 13, 1944

----

TSGT Samuel Fox II (Service Number 15115126) was born July 11, 1924 in Braxton County, WV, the son of Samuel and Myrtle (McClung) Fox. When Samuel was born, his father was working as a book keeper for the Railroad Company (1920 census). 

Sometime between 1920 and 1930, their family moved to 1303 Virginia Avenue in Fairmont so that Samuel Sr. could be the accountant for Consolidated Coal, a position that he continued through at least the 1950s (1930-1950 census records) even as they moved to various houses in Fairmont.

Sam attended East Fairmont High School. The 1942 East Fairmont High School Orion yearbook, where this photo of Sam came from, said that his nickname was "Great Orie" and that he participated in Student Council. His future wife, Jean Mathias, was also in the EFHS class of 1943.

Enlistment and Marriage:

Sam entered into the Army Air Corps on June 15, 1942 (in Kentucky), the summer before his senior year of high school. His occupation was listed on his Enlistment Records as "actors and actresses." Sam attended radio and gunnery training in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and in Fort Meters, Florida ("Staff Sergeant Fox Wins Flying Cross for Action Over Europe," Fairmont Times).

Wedding bells rang on March 22, 1943 when Sam (18) married his high school classmate Jean Elizabeth Mathias (17), in Hillsborough, Florida. The marriage notice in the newspaper gave Sam's address as "MacDill Field," now known as MacDill Air Force Base.

Sam and Jean's only child, Samuel Fox, III was born on December 15, 1943 in Fairmont. Unfortunately, little Samuel died just 15 days later on December 27, 1943. He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Fairmont, alongside his father and paternal grandparents.

Military Service:

During WWII, Sam served with the 449th Bomb Squadron, 322nd Bomb Group. On April 22, 1944, The Fairmont Times ran an article about him entitled "Staff Sergeant Fox Wins Flying Cross for Action Over Europe." In the article, it describes Sam, who by then was a veteran of 35 B-26 Marauder bombing runs, as having being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross "for outstanding achievement as a radio operator-gunner on these hazardous missions." By then, Sam also had been awarded the Air Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters.

Sam said in the article (full transcript at bottom): "My most exciting raid was against the Montdidier airdrome where we were hit by numerous fighters and intense flak. Our left engine was knocked out and if it hadn't been for the support of our fighters (Spitfires), I am sure we wouldn't be here today .... In my opinion the Marauder is the best plane in the world. It has proved time and time again that it can 'take it."

Air Air Corps Museum on the 449th Bomb Squadron, 322nd Bomb Group: "Beginning in Mar[ch] the 322d bombed railroad and highway bridges, oil tanks, and missile sites in preparation for the invasion of Normandy; on 6 Jun 1944 it hit coastal defenses and gun batteries; afterward, during the Normandy campaign, it pounded fuel and ammunition dumps, bridges, and road junctions."

On June 13, 1944, Sam's B-26 (42-107746) departed Royal Air Force Andrews Field on a ramrod mission (MACR 5875).  Their target was the Foret d'Andaine Fuel Dumps. Two separate reports from witnesses indicate that the B-26 was hit by enemy fire, tearing away portions of the plane, but that the pilot, LT R.P. Moninger appeared to remain in control. Moninger crashlanded the plane near Tilly Sur Seulles, France.  Sam was the only person on board who bailed out, and also the only casualty. 

The Fairmont Times reported that at the time of Sam's death, he'd completed sixty missions over enemy land ("T. SGT. Sam Fox Dies in Action," The Fairmont Times). He also had earned a total of 9 Oak Leaf Clusters on his Air Medal.

Legacy and Survivors:

After the war, Sam was laid to rest in the historic Woodlawn Cemetery in Fairmont. He is honored on the "Marion County Veterans Killed in Action" Memorial at Veterans Square in Fairmont, WV, and at the West Virginia Veterans Memorial in Charleston, WV. 

Sam was survived by his parents, older sister Margaret, and his wife of just over a year, Jean. Jean went on to remarry and raise four daughters. She died in 2006, at age 80.

Full Text of Staff Sergeant Fox Wins Flying Cross for Action Over Europe

A U.S. Ninth Air Force Marauder Station, England,- Veteran of 35 B-26 Marauder attacks against strong-defended Nazi objectives in Western Europe, Staff Sgt. Samuel Fox, Jr., 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Fox, of 209 East Park Ave., Fairmont, W.Va., was recently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for outstanding achievement as a radio operator-gunner on these hazardous missions. 

In addition to the D.F.C., he wears the Air Medal with five Oak Leaf clusters.
"My most exciting raid was against the Montdidier airdrome where we were hit by numerous fighters and intense flak. Our left engine was knocked out and if it hadn't been for the support of our fighters (Spitfires), I am sure we wouldn't be here today .... In my opinion the Marauder is the best plane in the world. It has proved time and time again that it can 'take it."

Sgt. Fox has participated in Maruader missions against enemy shipyards, airdromes, power plants, marshalling yards, and secret military installations. Many of these attacks were made against strong flak and fighter opposition, but the fast, cigar-shaped medium bombers took this in stride to drop their lethal loads with pin-point precision.

A former student of East Fairmon[t] High school, Sergeant Fox enlisted in the Army on Jan. 4, 1942, at Fairmont and secured radio and gunnery training at Sioux Falls, S.D., and Fort Meyers, Fla. His wife, Mrs. Jeanne [SIC] Mathias Fox, resides with her parents at 505 Auburn street.

Sources and More Information:

Newspaper articles, in Chronological Order:
  • Staff Sergeant Fox Wins Flying Cross for Action Over Europe. The Fairmont Times. 22 April 1944. Accessed with help from the West Virginia Regional History Center.
  • Awarded Medal. The Fairmont Times. 9 May 1944. Accessed with help from the West Virginia Regional History Center.
  • T. SGT. Sam Fox Dies in Action. The Fairmont Times. 28 June1944. Accessed with help from the West Virginia Regional History Center.

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