Corps Review Spring 2018

I N M E M O R I A M

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By Col. R.S. “Rock” Roszak ’71, U.S. Air Force (retired)

Medal of Honor recipient, U.S. Ma- rine, and former deputy commandant for the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Col. Wesley L. Fox died Nov. 24, 2017, in Blacksburg, Virginia. He was 86. Fox enlisted in the U.S. Marines in 1950 at the start of the Korean War. Months later he deployed to Korea as a rifleman, the first of many deployments in his 43-year career in the military. He spent the first 16 years as a noncom- missioned officer, and, in addition to his combat assignments, he worked as a drill instructor, a recruiter, and as a military police officer. In 1966, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. On Feb. 22, 1969, while serving as the commanding officer of Company A, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division in the A Shau Valley, Viet- nam, Fox’s unit was attacked. Despite injury, Fox led his men as they advanced through heavy fire. They eventually forced the North Vietnamese troops to retreat. Wounded again in a final as- sault, Fox continued to refuse medical attention and instead ensured that other wounded Marines were tended to and evacuated. “His indomitable courage, inspiring initiative, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of grave personal danger inspired his Marines to such aggressive actions that they overcame all enemy

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