In a recent Profile of Valor on Georgia native MajGen James Livingston (USMC), I noted: “When contemplating a Marine’s Marine, some of the first names that come to mind are LtGen Lewis ‘Chesty’ Puller and Col Wesley Lee Fox.”

I never had the opportunity to meet LtGen Puller, but I have had the privilege of multiple meetings with Medal of Honor recipients Livingston and Fox.

In fact, Col Fox was one of the earliest advocates for the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the birthplace of the Medal of Honor, as we were in our formative stage 10 years ago. He lauded the importance of our educational curriculum: “One must have good character, solid principles, and high ethical standards to inspire others to follow” — and those are the traits we teach to young people.

Wesley Fox was the son of John Wesley and Desola Lee Fox. He was born on their family farm near Herndon, Virginia, and was the oldest of 10 siblings. He dropped out of school after eighth grade, wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps as a farmer.

At the onset of the Korean War, inspired by the service of other family members, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1950 at age 18. According to Wesley, “I saw it as a chance to catch up to my cousin Norman, who’d jumped into Italy and Normandy in WWII. … So, one rainy day when we couldn’t work on the farm, a buddy and I drove to the recruiters in Washington, D.C. I told the Marine recruiter I was trying to decide between the Marines and the Airborne. He said, ‘Hell boy, what’s wrong with the Paramarines?’ That did it. I didn’t know the Paramarines disbanded in 1944! If I’d seen an Army recruiter first, who knows?”

After completing recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina, he was deployed to Korea as a rifleman with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. Wounded in action in September 1951, he was recovering at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, when he was awarded a Bronze Star with Combat “V” (valor). “While at Bethesda Naval Hospital, I talked to a lot of old salts and decided on all the things I wanted to do in the Marines.”

He reenlisted after the Korean War for six years, I suspect thinking that combat as a Marine was easier in some ways than farming! After completing Marine Recruiter’s School, he was assigned to recruiting offices in Washington, DC, and Maryland. Between 1960 and 1965, then-Gunnery Sergeant Fox served in locations from Okinawa, Japan, to Paris, France, then the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.

In 1966, he was commissioned a second lieutenant, becoming a platoon commander with the 2d Force Reconnaissance Company at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. From there, he served a tour in Vietnam starting in 1967 and in November 1968 became company commander of Company A, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. “[They] badly needed lieutenants, more than they could get through normal means, so they decided to select 5,000 NCOs for temporary commissions.”

On February 22, 1969, during Operation Dewey Canyon in Quang Tri Province, Lt Fox was wounded twice, refusing medical attention for his second severe wound because he was the most senior officer in command and insisted he would remain so until the enemy retreated. “It was the rainy season, and we couldn’t get helicopter support. On February 22, 1969, my understrength company came under intense fire from a large, well-concealed force. I got shrapnel from an RPG, and a sniper that had killed one of my Marines just missed me, before I shot him. I decided we had to go right at them.”

He added: “Though I wanted to break contact and get out of there, the realization of what that involved made my decision easy. I couldn’t leave without knowing I had every Marine with me. Having to carry my dead and wounded out, I wouldn’t have any Marines left to hold off the enemy, so I couldn’t do that without losing every Marine we had. I figured we would all stay in that valley forever, or we would all walk out together.”

Asked how he kept his cool under fire, Wesley said: “The best way to keep your cool is to keep thinking and doing things and don’t get locked into the idea you can’t do anything. The only time I came close to losing it was when the machine gun had me pinned down in that hole, firing right over me. I couldn’t do a damn thing but lay there and think about it. I really don’t know where it would have gone from there if it hadn’t been for the clouds moving out. I thought, damn, I’ve got to be able to use air support. Fortunately, I had a radio and called Colonel Smith. He said, ‘I’ve got a couple OV-10s on station just in case you can use 'em.’ … So my Marines marked their positions with smoke, and we had those OVs come in on that machine gun. If it hadn’t been for those two OV-10s, probably none of us would be walking this earth today.”

For his actions that day, Fox was awarded the Medal of Honor. His citation notes:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as commanding officer of Company A, in action against the enemy in the northern A Shau Valley. Capt. (then 1st Lt.) Fox’s company came under intense fire from a large well-concealed enemy force. Capt. Fox maneuvered to a position from which he could assess the situation and confer with his platoon leaders. As they departed to execute the plan he had devised, the enemy attacked and Capt. Fox was wounded along with all of the other members of the command group, except the executive officer. Capt. Fox continued to direct the activity of his company. Advancing through heavy enemy fire, he personally neutralized one enemy position and calmly ordered an assault against the hostile emplacements. He then moved through the hazardous area coordinating aircraft support with the activities of his men. When his executive officer was mortally wounded, Capt. Fox reorganized the company and directed the fire of his men as they hurled grenades against the enemy and drove the hostile forces into retreat. Wounded again in the final assault, Capt. Fox refused medical attention, established a defensive posture, and supervised the preparation of casualties for medical evacuation. His indomitable courage, inspiring initiative, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of grave personal danger inspired his marines to such aggressive action that they overcame all enemy resistance and destroyed a large bunker complex.

After Vietnam, Wesley served with Marine units in the U.S. and worldwide, until retiring as a full Colonel in 1993 after 43 years of service. It was mandatory retirement at the age of 62, or he would have fought on!

As an admiring young Marine wrote in tribute to Col Fox: “In retirement, he became Deputy Commandant of Cadets for the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets in Blacksburg. From there, he devoted much of his time to inspiring the current generation of American Patriots in uniform. He authored three outstanding books on Marine leadership: Marine Rifleman, Six Essential Elements of Leadership and Courage and Fear, a Primer.”

Inscribed copies of those books, gifts from Wesley, sit on the shelf above me as I write this profile. They have become benchmarks for leadership standards in all service branches and now many businesses. He was and will always be a Marine’s Marine — a legendary warrior who mastered the art of leadership.

Asked which of his six essential elements of leadership is the most essential — care, personality, knowledge, motivation, commitment, and communication — Wesley said: “Care. If a leader doesn’t care, he is maybe a director, but he is not a leader. If he doesn’t care about his people, they are not with him all the way down the road.”

As for what he wants people to know about leadership, he said: “We need to realize that leading others is what leadership is all about, and it’s what our country and our communities need. Leaders have followers, not subordinates. Leaders care and do the right thing, not just for their personal benefit or for the bottom line, but for their team.”

Col Wesley Fox: Your example of valor — a humble American Patriot defending Liberty for all above and beyond the call of duty and in disregard for the peril to your own life — is eternal.

“Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

Live your life worthy of his sacrifice.

(Read more Profiles of Valor here.)

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776

Follow Mark Alexander on X/Twitter.

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