| Transcript |
| 0:00 | · | foreign |
| 0:02 | · | [Music] |
| 0:09 | · | 1999 a captain serving in the United |
| 0:11 | · | States Public Health Service Commission |
| 0:13 | · | Corps was asked to speak at Arlington |
| 0:15 | · | National Cemetery on the eve of his |
| 0:17 | · | retirement |
| 0:18 | · | now on face it's not surprising that a |
| 0:21 | · | 30-year veteran might have been asked to |
| 0:22 | · | speak at Arlington but the captain who |
| 0:25 | · | was serving at Coast Guard headquarters |
| 0:27 | · | offered a unique perspective as the |
| 0:29 | · | Washington Post noted just two weeks ago |
| 0:32 | · | Captain Earl R Fox learned that he is |
| 0:35 | · | the last veteran of World War II to be |
| 0:38 | · | an active service in the United States |
| 0:40 | · | armed forces |
| 0:42 | · | the post noted that fox described |
| 0:44 | · | himself as the last direct physical link |
| 0:46 | · | between today's military and the |
| 0:49 | · | Warriors of Midway Normandy and Iwo Jima |
| · | Early life |
| 0:54 | · | for someone who lived a full life Earl |
| 0:56 | · | Fox almost didn't have the chance the |
| 0:59 | · | website to military.com writes that fox |
| 1:01 | · | was born on September 23 1919 at Fort |
| 1:04 | · | Eustis Virginia Army doctors believe |
| 1:07 | · | that the baby was still born and left it |
| 1:09 | · | for dead in a laundry room |
| 1:11 | · | only when doctors return later to |
| 1:12 | · | confirm the baby's gender that they find |
| 1:14 | · | him crying in the bin |
| 1:17 | · | Fox's wife Reba told the Richmond Times |
| 1:19 | · | Dispatch when he was born they thought |
| 1:21 | · | he was dead he wasn't breathing in the |
| 1:23 | · | lit him over the dirty laundry they've |
| 1:24 | · | been using with the mother he cried |
| 1:27 | · | for someone who started out dead she |
| 1:29 | · | says he's done really well |
| 1:32 | · | that was not the only hardship that Earl |
| 1:34 | · | Fox would endure as a child when he was |
| 1:36 | · | seven his father an army officer died in |
| 1:39 | · | an automobile accident |
| 1:40 | · | the boy's mother worked in a department |
| 1:42 | · | store but needed help raising three boys |
| 1:44 | · | his younger brother Jack told the Times |
| 1:46 | · | Dispatch in 1999. she was an extremely |
| 1:49 | · | smart woman but times were tight and |
| 1:51 | · | women weren't handled like they are |
| 1:53 | · | today she had to work she couldn't take |
| 1:55 | · | care of three boys |
| 1:57 | · | in 1932 the three boys were placed in |
| 1:59 | · | what was then called the Richmond Home |
| 2:01 | · | For Boys |
| 2:03 | · | formed as an orphan Society for |
| 2:05 | · | destitute Boys in 1846 the boys grew up |
| 2:07 | · | in the home with the Times Dispatch |
| 2:10 | · | noted frequent visits from their mother |
| 2:12 | · | despite the circumstances all three boys |
| 2:14 | · | found success Earl attended Thomas |
| 2:16 | · | Jefferson High School in Richmond and |
| 2:18 | · | then intent on becoming a doctor earned |
| 2:20 | · | a degree in biology at Richmond |
| 2:22 | · | University in 1941 |
| 2:24 | · | the Richmond News Leader reported in |
| 2:26 | · | October 1940 that the board of directors |
| 2:28 | · | of the Richmond Home For Boys would be |
| 2:30 | · | dining with the 42 boys at the home |
| 2:33 | · | among the honored guests will be Earl R |
| 2:35 | · | Fox technically a member of the family |
| 2:37 | · | but just now a student at the University |
| 2:38 | · | of Richmond who has recently been |
| 2:40 | · | elected president of the senior class |
| 2:43 | · | Earl then earned an appointment to the |
| 2:45 | · | United States Naval Academy when she was |
| 2:47 | · | attending when the Japanese attacked |
| 2:49 | · | Pearl Harbor |
| · | Navy service |
| 2:51 | · | he was commissioned into the Navy in |
| 2:53 | · | 1942 making him the fourth generation in |
| 2:56 | · | a line of Military Officers |
| 2:58 | · | he was assigned to a squadron of Patrol |
| 3:00 | · | torpedo or PT Boat these small fast |
| 3:04 | · | vessels were as their name implies |
| 3:05 | · | designed to attack Capital ships with |
| 3:07 | · | Torpedoes but were used in numerous |
| 3:09 | · | roles |
| 3:10 | · | retired Captain Robert bulkley Jr wrote |
| 3:13 | · | in his 1962 book at Close Quarters PT |
| 3:15 | · | boats in the United States Navy dead in |
| 3:18 | · | the water a Piti boat is Squat and Bimi |
| 3:20 | · | was designed for Speed and in speed lies |
| 3:22 | · | its beauty as a PT gains momentum its |
| 3:25 | · | bowel lifts clear of the water and it |
| 3:27 | · | planes gracefully over the surface |
| 3:29 | · | but until the war came PT's in the |
| 3:31 | · | United States Navy were an untried type |
| 3:33 | · | they'd never met the test of action and |
| 3:35 | · | no standard Doctrine for their |
| 3:36 | · | employment had been established |
| 3:38 | · | the Tampa Bay Times wrote in 2012 that |
| 3:40 | · | fox served in the same Squadron as a |
| 3:42 | · | young John F Kennedy |
| 3:45 | · | after serving in the Battle of Midway |
| 3:46 | · | Fox and his boat were sent to the |
| 3:48 | · | Aleutian Islands a place where Buckley |
| 3:50 | · | explains the battle was against the |
| 3:51 | · | weather |
| 3:52 | · | Aleutian weather he notes is |
| 3:54 | · | particularly towards the western part of |
| 3:55 | · | the chain is the worst in the world it |
| 3:58 | · | was in those Dangerous Waters that fox |
| 3:59 | · | and his crew were sent to rescue a |
| 4:01 | · | Canadian from kiska Island the Times |
| 4:03 | · | Dispatch explains that the man had been |
| 4:05 | · | sending coded radio messages about |
| 4:06 | · | Japanese ship movements but was being |
| 4:08 | · | tracked by the Japanese soldiers Fox and |
| 4:10 | · | his crew managed to rescue the man but |
| 4:12 | · | then ran into difficulty bulkley |
| 4:14 | · | explains that with strong currents |
| 4:16 | · | running through the passes and channels |
| 4:17 | · | the jugged shorelines that submerged |
| 4:19 | · | Rock chromations make navigation |
| 4:20 | · | extremely hazardous |
| 4:22 | · | the Greensboro North Carolina news and |
| 4:24 | · | record reported in 1999 after the rescue |
| 4:27 | · | the torpedo boat crashed into rocks the |
| 4:29 | · | propellers were bent fox and a dozen |
| 4:32 | · | other Sailors jumped into two lifeboats |
| 4:33 | · | as they rode out into the frigid Bering |
| 4:35 | · | Sea the Japanese infantry on the island |
| 4:37 | · | chopped their abandoned torpedo boat |
| 4:39 | · | full of holes |
| 4:41 | · | the Tampa Bay Times writes that others |
| 4:43 | · | discovered the abandoned boat and |
| 4:45 | · | shipped his belongings in a box to his |
| 4:47 | · | wife |
| 4:48 | · | for the second time Earl Fox had been |
| 4:50 | · | given up for dead only to be very much |
| 4:53 | · | alive the Tampa Bay Times explains that |
| 4:55 | · | the men were taken in by Local Natives |
| 4:57 | · | Who provided food and shelter until they |
| 4:59 | · | were eventually picked up by Coast Guard |
| 5:00 | · | officers on a fishing boat |
| 5:02 | · | for the daring rescue Fox was awarded |
| 5:04 | · | the Silver Star |
| 5:06 | · | Fox was then assigned to a boat in New |
| 5:08 | · | Guinea by the summer of 1943 he was the |
| 5:10 | · | post rights already a decorated combat |
| 5:13 | · | veteran and boat Commander at the age of |
| 5:15 | · | 23. of his Shipmates he told the post we |
| 5:18 | · | were bound together by common purpose |
| 5:19 | · | the trust we had in each other made us |
| 5:22 | · | strong |
| 5:23 | · | but War comes at a cost The Washington |
| 5:26 | · | Post explains that Fox's boat came under |
| 5:28 | · | attack by a single Japanese plane that |
| 5:30 | · | appeared out of nowhere and strafed his |
| 5:32 | · | boat |
| 5:33 | · | sailor was hit and the boat's executive |
| 5:34 | · | officer Al Haywood went to the man's |
| 5:36 | · | side |
| 5:37 | · | when the plane returned for another |
| 5:38 | · | attack he would cover the man to protect |
| 5:40 | · | him and was struck the injured sailor |
| 5:43 | · | survived but Haywood was killed |
| 5:46 | · | Fox buried his friend at sea |
| 5:49 | · | he told the Washington Post remembering |
| 5:52 | · | people like Haywood and the many many |
| 5:53 | · | others like him is important |
| 5:55 | · | because those memories of honor and |
| 5:57 | · | sacrifice are the fabric our country |
| 5:59 | · | is made of |
| · | Medical career |
| 6:02 | · | Fox served on the submarine until the |
| 6:03 | · | end of the war after active service in |
| 6:05 | · | 1947 having earned the Silver Star and |
| 6:07 | · | two bronze stars for heroism and |
| 6:09 | · | continued to serve in the naval Reserve |
| 6:12 | · | he attended the Medical College of |
| 6:13 | · | Virginia in Richmond earned his medical |
| 6:15 | · | license in 1953. it was a general |
| 6:18 | · | practitioner and a rheumatologist the |
| 6:20 | · | Times Dispatch writes that he helped |
| 6:22 | · | bring up three children and nurtured a |
| 6:23 | · | family practice in Saint Petersburg |
| 6:25 | · | Florida |
| 6:26 | · | he was quoted talking about the Dignity |
| 6:28 | · | of death in a 1963 edition of the Tampa |
| 6:30 | · | Bay Times |
| 6:31 | · | physicians Dr Fox contends should do |
| 6:34 | · | everything to save life but they should |
| 6:36 | · | make no effort to prolong the agony of |
| 6:39 | · | dying |
| 6:40 | · | after nearly 20 years of practice Dr Fox |
| 6:42 | · | retired in 1972 at the age of 55. |
| 6:45 | · | content The Washington Post rights to |
| 6:47 | · | enjoy his 53-foot yacht in his life as a |
| 6:50 | · | yacht club commodore |
| 6:52 | · | but life would then take an odd turn |
| 6:55 | · | Fox was accustomed to entertaining |
| 6:57 | · | officers from the local Coast Guard |
| 6:58 | · | Station the post rights he was at the |
| 7:00 | · | club one day when an emergency call came |
| 7:02 | · | in a man aboard a pleasure boat was |
| 7:04 | · | suffering a heart attack with the Coast |
| 7:06 | · | Guard's doctor away Fox was asked to |
| 7:08 | · | help within minutes he was being lowered |
| 7:10 | · | from a helicopter at sea apparently he |
| 7:13 | · | found the experience rewarding the Coast |
| 7:15 | · | Guard officer suggested that he could |
| 7:17 | · | receive an age waiver the New York Times |
| 7:19 | · | explained in 1999 the AIDS limit for |
| 7:21 | · | Coast Guard doctors was 44 but officials |
| 7:24 | · | waived it because of a shortage and fox |
| 7:26 | · | became a flight surgeon |
| 7:28 | · | but he insisted on becoming a pilot his |
| 7:31 | · | son Parham told the Tampa Bay Times he |
| 7:33 | · | had all these Hot Shots from Vietnam who |
| 7:35 | · | were taking him helicopters all of a |
| 7:37 | · | sudden he went from 55 years old to |
| 7:39 | · | about 40 years old |
| 7:40 | · | the New York Times wrote that he learned |
| 7:42 | · | to fly helicopters and airplanes at an |
| 7:43 | · | age when many are contemplating |
| 7:45 | · | retirement was being lowered from Rescue |
| 7:47 | · | helicopters to treat injured Mariners |
| 7:49 | · | The Washington Post writes it for 16 |
| 7:50 | · | years until 1990 Fox served as a flight |
| 7:53 | · | surgeon at Coast Guard stations up and |
| 7:55 | · | down the East Coast making more than a |
| 7:57 | · | dozen helicopter rescues he then became |
| 7:59 | · | senior medical officer at the Coast |
| 8:01 | · | Guard's military personnel command in |
| 8:03 | · | Washington DC |
| 8:04 | · | the Tampa Bay Times rights that |
| 8:05 | · | authorities considered his work on a |
| 8:07 | · | disability review board so valuable that |
| 8:09 | · | they once again granted Dr Fox an |
| 8:11 | · | exception to mandatory age limits |
| 8:14 | · | by 1999 Earl Fox was a captain in the |
| 8:17 | · | Public Health Service Commission Corps |
| 8:19 | · | and 80 years old the Times Dispatch |
| 8:21 | · | noted that some of his colleagues were |
| 8:23 | · | young enough to be his |
| 8:24 | · | great-grandchildren |
| 8:26 | · | his combined World War II and Coast |
| 8:28 | · | Guard service added up to 30 years and |
| 8:30 | · | he was he found out the last of the 16 |
| 8:33 | · | million 122 566 Americans who served |
| 8:37 | · | during the second world war to remain on |
| 8:40 | · | active duty |
| 8:41 | · | he was recognized on Veterans Day 1999 |
| 8:44 | · | and invited to have breakfast at the |
| 8:46 | · | White House with the president in honor |
| 8:48 | · | even though his son said that his dad |
| 8:50 | · | was not politically in Clinton's camp |
| 8:52 | · | and he was asked to speak at a wreath |
| 8:54 | · | laying ceremony at Arlington National |
| 8:56 | · | Cemetery |
| 8:57 | · | of the honor he told the New York Times |
| 8:59 | · | I don't think the president was really |
| 9:00 | · | recognizing Earl Fox I represent all the |
| 9:03 | · | people of World War II who weren't able |
| 9:06 | · | to be here today |
| 9:07 | · | until the Washington Post |
| 9:09 | · | I have felt a wait on me to expend every |
| 9:11 | · | effort to make it honorable for them |
| 9:14 | · | at Arlington he said I had classmates |
| 9:16 | · | who did not come home I had Shipmates |
| 9:19 | · | who did not make it I knew what they |
| 9:21 | · | thought and what they thought about and |
| 9:23 | · | I am filled with humility and faith in |
| 9:24 | · | God because I feel like I am here today |
| 9:27 | · | because of their courage and bravery |
| 9:31 | · | eight days later on November 19th |
| 9:33 | · | Captain Fox retired telling CBS News I |
| 9:36 | · | feel that it's time for me to move on |
| 9:38 | · | and open the way for younger people to |
| 9:39 | · | come in and Advance their ideas just as |
| 9:42 | · | I've had the privilege of using my own |
| 9:44 | · | although CBS continues Fox admits that |
| 9:46 | · | his wife will have to get used to having |
| 9:48 | · | him around the house a little bit more |
| 9:50 | · | President Clinton said to Darlington I |
| 9:52 | · | think he has earned his retirement |
| 9:54 | · | but captain on behalf of a Grateful |
| 9:56 | · | Nation |
| 9:57 | · | we say thank you for your service |
| · | Conclusion |
| 10:01 | · | Dr Earl R Fox passed away on September |
| 10:04 | · | 23 2012. it was his 93rd birthday he was |
| 10:10 | · | survived by his two brothers Three Sons |
| 10:12 | · | six grandchildren and six |
| 10:14 | · | great-grandchildren |
| 10:16 | · | the United States Department of Veterans |
| 10:18 | · | Affairs says that less than one percent |
| 10:20 | · | of the more than 16 million Americans |
| 10:22 | · | had served in the armed forces in the |
| 10:23 | · | second world war are still alive today |
| 10:25 | · | and an average of about 234 pass away |
| 10:29 | · | every day |
| 10:31 | · | and it is up to us |
| 10:33 | · | to remember them |
| 10:34 | · | amid their gravestones at Arlington |
| 10:36 | · | National Cemetery Dr Fox said each |
| 10:39 | · | generation forms a backbone for the next |
| 10:41 | · | to build upon |
| 10:42 | · | as my generation Fades into the midst of |
| 10:45 | · | collective memory called tradition you |
| 10:47 | · | will carry on the process for the next |
| 10:49 | · | generation of your sons and daughters |
| 10:51 | · | and in this way those who gave the last |
| 10:54 | · | full measure of devotion |
| 10:56 | · | will live forever |
| 10:59 | · | [subscribe please message redacted] |
| · | |
