Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Nicholas Skyles | 20230114-N-IJ902-1083 MEDITERRANIAN SEA (Jan. 14, 2023) Lt. Cmdr. James Cox, assigned...... read more read more
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Lt. Cmdr. James “Tootsie” Cox, Jr., assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, performed two fly-bys of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Bulkeley (DDG 84), Jan. 14, 2023. Bulkeley is named after Adm. John D. Bulkeley, who served with Cox’s grandfather in the Pacific theater during World War II.
In March 1942, then-Lt. Bulkeley, commander of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron (MTB) 3, and Ensign George E. Cox, commander of Patrol Torpedo Boat (PT) 41, were given orders that would either kill them or make them heroes.
Under the concealment of night, amidst multiple Japanese battleships, in the worst weather and sea states imaginable, and with little U.S. military support aside from the five other working PT boats assigned to MTB-3, the crew set out to rescue Gen. Douglas MacArthur from Bataan before he could be captured by Japanese forces.
With the failure of the Philippine Campaign imminent, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered MacArthur, commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), to evacuate the Philippines before the Japanese could take control of Bataan and the Island of Corregidor. The order for MacArthur to leave was significant and immediate. The Japanese capture of the internationally famous MacArthur would be a huge victory for the Japanese and leave the U.S. forces in the Philippines without their commander. With the capture of Corregidor inevitable, MacArthur had to move quickly. The PT boats of MTB-3 were assigned the mission.
As dusk fell on March 11, 1942, MacArthur, his wife, their 7-year-old son, their Cantonese nanny, and additional Army staff chosen by MacArthur boarded PT-41 on the north dock of Corregidor Island. Under cover of night, PT-41 travelled in tandem with three other PTs that carried other USAFFE personnel from the island, until becoming separated after navigating a minefield in Manila Bay. Throughout the harrowing 560-mile journey, the boats were met with engine failures, fuel shortages, Japanese destroyers, heavy seas, and rain squalls, but against all odds arrived MacArthur safely to the port of Cagayan on Mindanao on March 13, 1942.
Despite the overwhelming odds, they brought MacArthur to safety. MacArthur turned to Bulkeley and Cox when they arrived on Mindanao and said “I am giving every officer and man here the Silver Star for gallantry. You’ve taken me out of the jaws of death, and I won’t forget it!”
Cox’s heroics during this mission and his continued naval service earned him the rank of Lieutenant Commander and served as a family inspiration for generations to come.
“As I flew past the ship, I looked down and thought about Adm. Bulkeley and my grandfather and tried to imagine what combat would’ve looked like to men like that versus what it looks like now,” said Cox, Jr. “Being able to close the circle on my family’s story with the Bulkeleys was an opportunity I never imagined being able to have.”
Following Cox’s death in 1972, it was his wife Mary that carried on the Cox’s relationship with the Bulkeley family, keeping in regular touch and even dutifully sending each other Christmas cards each year. Adm. Bulkeley’s wife invited Mary to the commissioning of DDG 84 in Dec. 2001.
Cox’s son, retired Capt. James Cooper Cox Sr., joined the Navy in 1978, and served as a helicopter pilot for more than 31 years before retiring in 2009. In the 1980’s, Cox Sr. had the unique privilege of flying then-retired Adm. Bulkeley to an aircraft carrier for a distinguished visitor embark.
During the flight, he handed Bulkeley a note to tell him who he was. Bulkeley leaned forward and offered a reassuring hand on Cox’s shoulder, as if to acknowledge the place his father occupied in Bulkeley’s career and life.
Between the fly-bys, Cox, Jr. visited the ship and shared the story of his grandfather and the ship’s namesake with the crew. He showed photos of the men to the ship’s commanding officer, who in a final, unexpected bit of fate, revealed he grew up on the same childhood street as his grandfather.
“It was an incredible experience to visit the ship and share a piece of my family with the crew,” said Cox, Jr. “It was an important reminder of the almost familial closeness U.S. Navy Sailors can share across time and space and of the legacy of service we all preserve.”
| Date Taken: | 03.05.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 03.04.2023 08:45 |
| Story ID: | 439711 |
| Location: | U.S. 6TH FLEET AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY |
| Web Views: | 314 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
This work, Out of the Jaws of Death: The Lasting Legacy of John Bulkeley, George Cox, by PO2 Richard Rodgers, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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