Cox, Thomas Francis
Army Corporal

Thomas Francis Cox, age 35, from Suffolk County Mattapan, Massachusetts .

Spouse: Eileen W. Cox

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, July 27, 1950
Death details: In late July 1950, elements of the 27th Infantry Regiment, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and other units in the 25th Infantry and 1st Cavalry Divisions were tasked with blocking a North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) advance down the Poun-Hwanggan Highway, toward Kumch’on, roughly thirty-five miles west of Taegu. On July 23 and 24, U.S. units fought a series of engagements against the advancing NKPA forces. Heavy enemy artillery fire barrages forced the U.S. units back slowly until they began to withdraw to new positions on July 26. Over the next three days, the units withdrew and consolidated in Kumch’on, though many American soldiers died, were captured, or went missing during this action.
Sergeant Thomas Francis Cox entered the U.S. Army from Massachusetts and served in the Medical Company of the 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He went missing near Kumch’on on July 27, 1950, and was not seen following the withdrawal. There is no evidence suggesting he was captured and is presumed to have died during the fighting. His remains were not recovered following the battle. Today, Sergeant Cox is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Boston Globe (1954)