U.S. Army 2nd Lt. John Fox was working his post during World War II when he realized that he was surrounded by the enemy. His chances of survival were slim. As the foe got closer, Fox ran out of options.
Then he did the unthinkable: He ordered artillery fire onto his location. Fox’s ultimate sacrifice helped save several soldiers and civilians from suffering the same fate.
Fox was born on May 18, 1915, in Cincinnati. He attended Ohio State University before transferring to Wilberforce University. There, he participated in the Reserved Officers’ Training Corps under the famed World War I veteran Capt. Aaron Fisher. Fox graduated with a degree in engineering in 1941 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
Wartime Christmas
In December that year, Fox volunteered for four days of combat duty over the Christmas holiday. The Allies needed support to hold the village of Sommocolonia, Italy. Fox was ordered to sit on the second story of a building in the village as a watch guard. From his high vantage point, he radioed in coordinates of German artillery fire.Although Christmas Day was quiet, little did Fox know that he was slowly being surrounded by enemy forces. On Christmas night, several German soldiers disguised themselves as Italian civilians and snuck into the town.
By the early morning hours of Dec. 26, German soldiers had taken positions within the village and started launching a major attack. Most of Fox’s fellow U.S. soldiers were forced to retreat, but Fox chose to stay and help fight off the enemy.
He continued to call in the enemy’s coordinates so that American soldiers could fight them off with artillery fire. As the Germans moved in, Fox called the fire coordinates closer and closer to his own position. He ordered artillery fire 60 yards away from him, but the Germans kept coming. Fox then ordered his fellow soldiers to fire upon his exact location.
‘Fire It!’
After figuring out what Fox requested, Fox’s close friend, Lt. Otis Zachary, hesitated. If he sent the firing orders, Fox would most likely be killed. Fox’s fellow soldiers radioed back to him and asked him to confirm that he wanted them to fire onto his position. “Fire It! There’s more of them than there are of us. Give them hell!” Fox replied, according to his Medal of Honor citation.The artillery team obeyed Fox’s command and fired on his position, which greatly weakened the attacking German soldiers. The attack gave Allied forces enough time to slow down the Germans so the Allies could regroup and launch a counteroffensive.
After several days of fighting, Allied forces retook Sommocolonia on Jan. 1, 1945. When the troops took back the village, they found Fox’s body along with a few fellow soldiers, and around 100 dead German troops. Fox’s selfless actions enabled Allied soldiers and civilians to escape the German attack.
However, despite his amazing act of courage, he wasn’t recognized right away. In 1982, Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger awarded Fox the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously. President Bill Clinton awarded Fox’s widow, Arlene Fox, the Medal of Honor at a ceremony in the White House in 1997. The Hasbro toy company further commemorated him when it made a 12-inch G.I. Joe Medal-of-Honor series action figure of the war hero in 2005.
