S1C Dale Franklin Cox (WWII)

Remembering S1C Dale Franklin Cox (Fairmont)

May 7, 1926 - October 29, 1944

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S1C Dale Franklin Cox (Service #7555747) was born in Fairmont, WV on May 7, 1926, the son of Lester and Anna (Smallwood) Cox. Their family lived on Country Club Road, where Lester was a City Truck Driver (1930 Census). On February 10, 1938, Lester died of Angina Pectoris at age 41 in Weston (where the family was living), leaving Anna as a single mother of 7 kids, ages 2 to 16.

Anna and her kids moved to 34 Freeland Street in Fairmont. In the 1940 census, 14-year-old Dale was listed as a "new worker."

Military Service:

On November 17, 1942, Dale enlisted in the United States Navy Reserve in Charleston, WV at age 16. On March 21, 1944, he boarded the destroyer escort U.S.S. Eversole (DE-404).

On October 28, 1944, the U.S.S. Eversole was sunk in the Leyte Gulf by two torpedos from the Japanese submarine I-45. While many crewmembers made it to the surface, a tremendous explosion (believed to be an anti-personnel bomb) wounded or killed everyone remaining on the surface of the water (Naval History and Heritage Command).

139 survivors were rescued by the U.S.S. Bull and U.S.S. Whitehurst, who saw light from the survivors' flashlights. 40 crew members went down with the ship, including S1C Dale Franklin Cox. Dale was 18 years-old. Following the rescue, the U.S.S. Whitehurst made sonar contact with Japanese submarine I-45 and pursued her, sinking the submarine.

Legacy and Survivors:

S1C Dale Franklin Cox 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. As his remains were never recovered, he is also honored on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.

Dale was survived by his mother Anna and six siblings (3 sisters and 3 brothers). He was preceded in death by his father, Lester, and a younger brother, Lester, Jr., who died at birth.

More on the Sinking of the U.S.S. Eversole:

"Due to the limited availability of oilers, Eversole finished fueling before Richard S. Bull, and decided to get immediately underway to re-join the task group, clearing the gulf at 20 knots just after midnight. Only a few hours later, at approximately 0210, she picked up a surface contact five miles distant. “In case there might be something ahead,” Lt. Cmdr. Marix altered Eversole’s course 15° to the right and set her speed to 17 knots. At 0228, sonar contact was reported 2,800 yards distant and Marix headed for the bridge. In the seconds that followed, however, a torpedo fired from the Japanese submarine I-45, (Lt. Cmdr. Kawashima Mamoru commanding) punched into the side of the ship.

“The ship immediately took a 15° list,” and then a second torpedo struck, presumably in the same place as the first. Eversole’s list increased to 30° and at 0240, Marix gave the order to abandon ship. Before leaving the ship himself, the commanding officer noticed three men “frozen on the rail too scared to move,” so he beat their fingers until they dropped into the water, and then assisted in lowering another man with a broken leg. Finally getting into the water himself, Marix went about herding the other survivors into a group on a floater net.

As Eversole sank to the bottom, I-45 surfaced and started to cruise through the debris-strewn area. Unable to clearly identify the boat in the pre-dawn gloom, several of the survivors began to shout for help, to which I-45 responded with bursts of 25-millimeter machine gun fire. However, thanks to the darkness and the rain, the gunfire failed to find any of the survivors who thereafter lay completely still until the submarine submerged and moved on. Approximately 20 minutes I-45 disappeared a tremendous explosion occurred, which was believed to be an anti-personnel bomb, and according to Marix it “killed or wounded everyone in the water.”

Sources and More Information:

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