TSGT Samuel Fox II (WWII)


Remembering TSGT Samuel "Sam" Fox II (Fairmont)

July 11, 1924 - June 13, 1944

----

TSGT Samuel Fox II 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.

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."

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.

During WWII, Sam served with the 449th Bomb Squadron, 322nd Bomb Group. While I couldn't find a lot of details about Sam's service, specifically, here's what the Air Air Corps Museum says about their time in France:

"Beginning in Mar 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."

TSGT Samuel Fox II was killed in action on June 13, 1944. After the war, Sam was laid to rest in the historic Woodlawn Cemetery in Fairmont. He is also honored on the Marion County Veterans Killed in Action Memorial in Fairmont, WV.

Sources and More Information:

322nd Bombardment Group (Army Air Corps Museum)

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