Myles C. Fox

Myles Crosby Fox
Born	October 13, 1918 New York, New York
Died	August 7, 1942 (aged 23) Tulagi, in the Solomon Islands
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1939-1942
Rank	First Lieutenant
Unit	1st Marine Raider Battalion
Battles/wars	World War II *Battle of Tulagi
Awards	Navy Cross

Myles C. Fox (1918–1942) was a United States Marine Corps officer who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic actions during the World War II Battle of Tulagi.

Biography

Myles Crosby Fox was born in New York, New York, on October 13, 1918. He graduated from Williams College in 1939.

Fox enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve on May 4, 1939. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on November 29, 1940 and promoted to first lieutenant on April 11, 1942.

In the initial assault of the Guadalcanal campaign, Fox was with the 1st Marine Raider Battalion during the seizure of Tulagi on the night of August 7, 1942. He ignored mortal wounds to deploy his men skillfully in filling a key gap in the American lines, thus repulsing a Japanese attack with heavy losses.

Awards

First Lieutenant Fox was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously for his great valor.

Namesakes

The destroyer escort USS Myles C. Fox (DE-546) was named for First Lieutenant Fox, but her construction was cancelled in 1944. The destroyer USS Myles C. Fox (DD-829) then was named in his honor and was in commission from 1945 to 1979.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.