Richard L Cox

We lost Col. Richard Leon Cox (Ret.), of Birmingham, on April 1, 2018. Richard was the only son of Augusta Clark Cox and Herman Everett Cox, Registered Pharmacist, both of Birmingham. Richard was born in Birmingham and attended Graymont grammar school, Phillips High School and Birmingham Southern College. He graduated from the University of Alabama with a Political Science degree and was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity. Richard also completed the Command General Staff School while on active duty in the U.S. Army during his Viet Nam service. That achievement is recognized as a Master’s Degree equivalent from a civilian university.

Richard graduated from high school on a Friday night and enlisted in the U.S. Army the next Monday morning for his World War II service. He rose to the rank of corporal. Among other duties, he was assigned to guard the General of the Army, Dwight David Eisenhower. General Eisenhower later became President of the United States.

When the Korean war started, he was called up again to serve his country. As a First Sargent, he was a senior non-commissioned officer and in effect ran an entire infantry company consisting of approximately 200 men. Richard was highly decorated as he received the Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars, among other service medals. He fired the one-millionth artillery shell in Korea for the Americans and was recognized in newspapers, complete with a photograph of him holding the shell just prior to firing. After Korea, he became an officer and had the achievement of completing “Airborne school”—jumping out of airplanes and helicopters. Interestingly, he completed and excelled in “Airborne” when he was 31 years old. The overwhelming majority of others in the school were around 19 years old. As an officer he commanded the 167th Infantry and was a founding member of the 20th Special Forces unit in 1961. He later transferred to the 87th Maneuver Area Command. When the Viet Nam conflict started, he was again called to serve his country. Richard never really talked about the horrors of what he had seen in Korea or Viet Nam. His last assignment during Viet Nam was the hardest stateside assignment that he could have had. In that assignment, he was the officer that went to the wives, parents and loved ones of the fallen soldiers to inform them of their loss and help them with the process. Richard continued to serve in the Army Reserves after his active duty. He was ultimately promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel. After Army retirement, he joined the Alabama State Defense Force and was a Colonel. He was often referred to as “The Colonel” by those close to him. When Richard returned from his Korean service, he ran into his friend from Graymont and Phillips, Norma Jean Williams during the summer of 1953 while both were shopping on the streets of downtown Birmingham. They were married December 22, 1953. Richard and Jean had two sons, Gregory Richard Cox and Clark Hogan Cox. Richard and Jean divorced in 1982, however, after some time, they reconciled and shared many occasions together including holiday dinners and special family events.

As a civilian, he was an insurance claims adjuster in Birmingham and later a claims manager in Montgomery. He and the family moved back to Birmingham from Montgomery and he became a highly successful commercial insurance agent, from which he retired.

Richard was predeceased by his parents and his former wife Norma Jean Cox. Richard is survived by his sons, Gregory Richard Cox of Birmingham, Clark Hogan Cox (Denise) of Brentwood, Tennessee and his beloved grandson Michael Clark Cox also of Birmingham as well as special family friends, Botan Cox and Janice Whitworth, both of Birmingham. In later life Richard became a Christian and loved the Lord and His son Jesus Christ. He loved being a member of Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church. In the Fall of 2011, Richard lived at Saint Martin’s in the Pines assisted living. There was a beautiful ceremony at Saint Martin’s called “Blessing of the House” that the priest and other Saint Luke’s officials held in his apartment. He truly cherished that. Richard was a Master Mason, completing a 32nd Degree Scottish Rite, and York Rite. He was also in the antique car unit of Zamora Masonic Temple in Birmingham.

His interest included cars, his dogs, Alabama football, camping, big band music, reading and opera. However his greatest interest/love was his family. He had a tremendous heart and he will be missed. Special thanks to the caregivers at St. Martin’s in the Pines retirement community in Birmingham and the caregivers at the Col. Robert L. Howard VA home in Pell City. Richard’s funeral will be Thursday, April 5, 2018 at Ridout’s Elmwood Chapel, 800 Dennison Ave. SW, Birmingham, AL 35211 at 11:00am with visitation at 10:00am followed by a brief graveside service complete with a military honor guard and the playing of Taps.