1st. Lt. John Fox: A Medal of Honor recipient who proved racists wrong about Black soldiers in combat

On this Martin Luther King Day, in an Army town such as ours outside Fort Leonard Wood, it’s appropriate to remember 1st Lt. John Fox, who nearly 80 years ago died when he called in an artillery barrage on his own position after being surrounded by German and pro-Fascist Italian soldiers during the American invasion of Italy. When his body was recovered a week later, he was found in a building surrounded by a hundred dead enemy soldiers.

Decades later Fox was awarded the Medal of Honor, but initially received no commendation at all, almost certainly due to being Black.

For Fox to become an officer in the segregated Army of the era immediately before America entered World War II was very difficult. Few colleges would admit Black students, and few of those that would allowed them to join ROTC programs. An exception was Wilberforce University in Ohio, to which Fox transferred and from which he received his commission in 1941. Even after joining the Army as an officer, his segregated units were largely prevented from front-line service.

That changed in late 1944 when, during the American invasion of Italy, mounting pressure from early civil rights advocates caused Fox’s unit, the 366th infantry regiment of the segregated 92nd “Buffalo” Division, to be assigned combat duty. Quoting an article from the National Medal of Honor Museum: “The division took for their symbol a buffalo, hearkening back…