I'm please to announce that the new Ens. Joseph Cox memorial has been completed on Yap Island. The memorial pays tribute to Ens. Cox as well as the USS Enterprise and the VF-20 squadron. It is one of the best memorial sites in the Pacific. Four VF-20 F6F-5 Hellcat's off the USS Enterprise were shot down over Yap during the war. They included Lt. Brown (9/6/44), Lt. Lillard (11/22/44), Ens. Cox (9/6/44), and Ens. Holding (9/6/44). Over the last five years my Missing Air Crew Project has located all four crash sites while I have searched for my missing uncle who was lost in an AAF B-24 over Yap. Brown, Lillard and Cox all remain missing in action. Only the remains of Cox was located and returned home after the war. We are currently working with JPAC to recover the remains of the missing men and bring them home after 66 years. We originally located the Cox Hellcat crash site in the Yap jungle in 2005, however, when we returned to Yap in subsequent years we found that the nearby Yap dump was going to overtake and cover the remains of the plane. The crash site was unique because the plane was on its back with the gear fully extended down yet relatively intact compared to other crash sites we have located. We worked with the Yap Visitors Bureau (YVB) to move the wreckage away from the dump and to a location a ½ mile away on government land. See pictures below showing the wreckage being moved to its new location. Over the last year we have worked with the YVB to turn the site into one of the best memorial sites in the Pacific. As you can see from the pictures at the following link the plane has been turned back on its gear and is now right side up for the first time in 66 years. The plane now sits on a concrete pad and has a granite memorial marker dedicated to Ens. Cox in front of the plane as well as an all weather sign next to the plane that provides an overview about Ens. Cox and his family, F6F-5 info, a mission summary explain how the pilot was shot down and information about the USS Enterprise. Visitors to Yap will no longer refer to the nameless junk in the jungle. They now can understand that the story that claimed a young man serving his country during a brutal war. We will setting up an official dedication for the memorial this summer (August 2010) when we return to Yap. If anyone is interested in attending the dedication or would like more information please contact me at: pat@missingaircrew.com
Posts: 683 | From: Cameron, Wisconsin | Registered: Dec 2004
| Logged: 74.220.11.71
Copyright Notice: All images and text on this website are protected by U.S. and International Copyright Law. No images or text should be copied, downloaded, transferred, or reproduced without the written consent of Patrick Ranfranz/MissingAirCrew.com Images. If you wish to use any materials (images or text), please contact: webmaster@missingaircrew.com
® Copyright 2004-2005, MissingAirCrew.com®, All rights reserved.
Printer-friendly view of this topic