Last WWII Vet on Active Duty to Be Honored

Capt. Earl R. Fox, the last World War II veteran still on active duty in the U.S. armed forces, is retiring next week.

Fox will have breakfast at the White House today and then speak at a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. This will be his final Veterans Day in uniform and he describes himself as “the last direct physical link” between today’s military and the warriors of Midway, Normandy and Iwo Jima.

“I have felt a weight on me to expend every effort to make it honorable for them,” said the 80-year-old Coast Guard physician of those comrades at arms who have died.

“One generation forms the backbone for the next to build on,” says the text he has prepared for the commemoration. “As my generation fades into the mist of collective memory called tradition, you will continue the process for the next generation of your sons and daughters. In this way, those who have given the last full measure of devotion will live forever.”

As the Virginia native rehearsed his brief speech for a visitor to his office at Coast Guard headquarters Wednesday, his voice cracked. He stopped in mid-sentence, reached for a handkerchief and apologized for the show of emotion.

“I had classmates who did not come home,” he said. “I had shipmates who did not make it. I knew these men well. I knew what they thought and what they thought about. And I am filled with humility and faith in God, because I feel like I am here today because of their courage and bravery.”

Fox has served as a flight surgeon at Coast Guard stations up and down the East Coast. For the past nine years he has worked as the senior medical officer at Coast Guard headquarters.