COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL November 11, 2015
War
stories
Ron Turpin
Sgt. (E-5),
USMC
June 1962 to
July 1968
Camp
Pendleton,
Okinawa,
Bremerton,
Wash., Viet-
nam
Wounded in action, Vietnam
World War II veteran
offers details he doesn't
often share
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
Terry Neil Turpin
M
any combat veterans return to the
home front without sharing much
of what they’ve seen, heard, accomplished
and lived through.
Such is the case with James E. Fox, who
recently celebrated his 90th birthday with
family and who, despite his heroics while
pitched in battle on the European front as
a very young man during World War II,
returned home without speaking of those
experiences in detail to his family.
“We don’t really talk a lot about it; we
never really have,” Fox’s daughter, Tena
Carlton, said through tears. “I’ve never
asked a lot of questions, because it’s very
emotional for me. Any soldier out there,
they live with so much, and so many of us
just don’t have a clue.”
And yet, when the timing and the com-
pany is right, a veteran might open up, to
share war stories and tales of friendships
forged of iron amid the chaos, and to of-
fer at least a clue about experiences that
helped to write history and shape the fu-
ture of nations.
For Fox, who still sports the thin mus-
tache, the rakish smile and sharp sense
of humor of his younger days, the story
is one of a small but scrappy young man
who joined the fi ght even though he may
not have had to, and who often found him-
self in front of the front lines in an infantry
division that earned accolades for its fi ght-
ing spirit even among its enemies.
“I was three pounds when I was born,
and I’ve been fi ghting since,” Fox jokes.
At age 18, with war raging throughout
the globe, Fox was working for a man in
Iowa who told him he could get a defer-
ment for him if he wanted one.
“I said ‘No, I’ll go on in and keep it safe
for these candy-cocks who want to stay
back,’” Fox said, eventually becoming a
forward observer in charge of mapping
out German positions so the big guns in
the 95th Infantry Division could com-
mence their shelling.
photo by Jon Stinnett
James E. Fox shows off some of the accolades he received as a ser-
geant in the 95th Infantry Division, known as the "Iron Men of Metz."
Below: A plaque details the task and exploits of the 95th.
Eventually, the unit would earn distinc-
tions for its ability to fi ght off German
counterattacks and a nickname to match
its ferocity — the “Iron Men of Metz.”
On Oct. 19, 1944, the 95th was sent
into combat east of Moselle, France and
patrolled the Seille River there, repeatedly
repelling German attempts to cross its
bridge. In early November, the unit went
on the offensive, advancing to Bertrange
and capturing the city of Metz itself by
Nov. 22. It would continue its advance
through bitter fi ghting, capturing cities in
France, the Netherlands and into Germany
until the war ended. Throughout the fi ght-
ing, Fox kept up his task of discovering
and sending word of enemy positions back
to his commanders, often fi nding himself
alone and in grave danger.
Once, while observing the actions of
one Sgt. Warner, Fox saw the sergeant
suddenly stand at attention.
“The next thing you know, I felt a foot
planted in my butt,” he said. Turning
around, Fox observed the fi gure of Gen-
eral George S. Patton himself.
“He said to me, ‘I think they’re getting a
little anxious,’” Fox said. “’Let’s give ‘em
something to get excited about.’ And we
shot ‘em all down. We kicked the &*%$
out of ‘em three different times; after the
second time, all that was left was a church
steeple and a couple other buildings.”
Once, Fox said he discovered an ammu-
nition depot and heard the 88s — German
anti-aircraft artillery — begin fi ring.
“They say that if you can hear ‘em whis-
tle, it means you’re okay,” he said. “But
the next thing I knew, I woke up in the
basement.”
During the course of the fi ght, Fox
wound up with a bit of shrapnel in his
neck (“It didn’t bother me for a long,
long time”) and a Bronze Star, awarded
for shooting down a German plane that
would’ve decimated his unit.
But according to his daughter, Fox’s
greatest accomplishment may have come
after he returned to America.
“I’m just so proud of him because he
came home and raised all us kids,” she
said. “He’s such a great leader, and he loves
his grandkids so much. He always took us
camping and hunting. I just feel so lucky,
because so many families didn’t have their
loved ones come home to them.”
Marine Corporal
Sept. 1965 to March 1967
Vietnam
Purple Heart
Leonard Waitman
U.S. Army
Air Corps
European
Theater
Legion
of Merit,
American
Defense
Service
Medal, Eu-
ropean-Afri-
can-Middle
Eastern
Campaign Medal with seven
stars, Army Expeditionary
Force, Good Conduct Medal,
American Campaign Medal,
World War II Victory Medal,
Presidential Citation, Overseas
Service bars
Larry B. Watkins
U.S. Air
Force
E-4 Ser-
geant
Nov. 1968
to Aug.
1972
Fairchild
C
Air Force Base, Anderson Air
Force Base, Guam, Fairbanks,
AK
Served as a Jet Engine Tech-
nician on B-52 bombers and
KC135 tankers. Also trained
on Hounddog missiles. Spent
all duty with the Strategic Air
Command.
Stephen Willis
U.S.
Army
Rank:
SP4
May 17,
1971-
June 24,
1974
Basic
— Ft.
Lewis, WA; Ft. Eustis, VA;
Nuremberg, Germany, Ft.
Hood, TX
Victor Wilson
Corporal,
U.S. Army,
1951-53
Ft. Rucker,
Ala. And
Darmstadt,
Germany
Overseas
Medal, Ri-
fl e Medal,
Veterans
Medal of
Honor
Carlton Woodard
1st
Lieuten-
ant, US
Marine
Corps
July
1941-
1945
Parris
Island,
SC
Marine Corps Base Camp
Lejeun
EWA Marine Corps Air Station,
Territory of Hawaii
Pearl Harbor, Territory of
Hawaii
We Salute Th ose Who Served
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