This is the war diary of my father, Elvin Clarkson Cox, covering the time from when he was drafted, through basic training, and deployment to the front lines in Italy,
Born March 27, 1920, Dad grew up on a farm just outside of Ramseur in Randolph County, North Carolina. Our Quaker ancestors settled along Deep River in the 1750s to farm and operate grist mills. Dad was an outstanding athlete at Ramseur High School, and our mother, Nettie Margaret Moody, was his classmate and valedictorian of their class. They were married on July 3, 1940, in a civil ceremony as they had little money and were saving for their life together. Their lives were interrupted by a draft notice in 1943.
Growing up, my brothers and I were aware that Dad had served and been wounded in World War II. However, there wasn’t much discussion about the details, despite Dad serving in leadership roles with the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) and VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). We knew from the severe scarring on his torso that something bad happened, but war is an abstract concept for kids. My perception of being a soldier was shaped by G.I. Joe toys, and TV shows like Combat and The Rat Patrol. Playing “army” with friends was a common occurrence for a school-age boy in the 1960s.
What Dad “did in the war” became a more frequent question around the time my middle brother Jeff was drafted at the height of the Vietnam War. It was a difficult time for the family, and I’m sure my mother was reliving the trauma of her husband nearly dying in war 25 years earlier. I specifically recall Dad saying he didn’t want his boys to experience what he’d experienced.
I’m not sure when we began asking Dad to write or record the details of his war experiences. Mom saved the dozens of letters Dad sent her during the war, but they were personal, and we did not invade that private space. He told us of attempts to write about his service, but the memories (and sometimes nightmares) made it a difficult task to complete.
After retiring as Ramseur postmaster in 1988, Dad became a guest columnist for a local newspaper, The Randolph Guide. He was frequently asked to write columns for Memorial Day and Independence Day and often included anecdotes from his service. After our mother’s death, Dad married a wonderful lady, Doris, a widow who also had three sons. I believe his routine of writing, coupled with beginning a new chapter in life with Doris, provided the right environment for revisiting difficult wartime memories.
My oldest brother Terry assembled Dad’s notes, writings, and accompanying documents shortly after his death in May 2014. During the Covid pandemic, when all of us had time to fill, I tackled organizing family photos, clippings, and keepsakes that were mostly residing in a trunk. I also revisited Dad’s story with fresh eyes.
This is a presentation of Dad’s WWII memoirs as written by him. I’ve taken the liberty of correcting obvious typos and punctuation errors. Missing words and spelling corrections are shown in [brackets]. Otherwise, editing is kept to a minimum. The reader will see changes in present and past tense throughout, largely due to Dad adding details as he revisited his letters and notes.
Footnotes and links are intended to provide clarity and access to related resources. Chapter titles are also my addition. Uncredited photos are from the family, or are public domain. Photos with handwritten captions are from Dad’s files.
Brian Cox
July 2023
Diary of an Infantryman 