Ralph and Jane Cox.
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Jane (nee Wenona Jane Williams) is a daughter of Charles and Florence Williams, and so Ethel, Alpha, Daisy, Wenona, Darwin, and Ernest were her aunts and uncles. Ralph has kindly sent us a lot of information on the Williams family, including copies of some notes written by Charles Williams on the Williams family history. The following is from a genealogy file sent to us by Ralph: Wenona Jane Williams born at home on the farm, located south of the Methodist Church in Jamaica, IL. Attended grade school in Jamaica, IL and High School at Catlin, IL. After high school she was a switchboard operator for Illinois Bell Telephone Co., Danville, IL. Enlisting in the Marine Corps during WWII she was sent to Camp Lejeune, NC for boot training. After completing basic training was assigned to Washington DC, working in the Navy Annex building.RALPH L. COX, MAJOR USAF, RETIRED. Enlisted in Army Air Corps on September 13, 1940, and was assigned to Scott Air Field, Bellville, Illinois.He attained the rank of Sgt as a Control Tower Operator and was a CW operator at Scott when WWII was declared. He was assigned immediately to Presque Isle, Maine Air Base to receive and transmit CW messages to England from the United States and sometimes intercepting coded messages from German submarines. After passing the exam for Officer Training School, was then sent to Signal Corps OCS at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey in October 1942 and received commission as Second Lt., Signal Corps, February 3, 1943. Was then trained as a radar filter officer in New York City working at the Bell Telephone building on 7th Ave. Was assigned overseas duty in May 1944 just before the invasion of France on June 6th, 1944. Arriving in England with duty at Ascot, England. Was then sent to the mainland of France in July 1944. Duty included team Commander installing IFF equipment in fighter aircraft and also installing VHF communication links from one unit to another behind Gen Patton's 3rd Armored Div. for the Signal Corps. Was assigned to attend VHF communication school in England. Upon completion and returning to Luxembourg City, Luxembourg WWII ended. Then assigned as Officer in Charge of a team looking for German aircraft jet engines that were hidden in box cars for shipment to the U.S. After several weeks of this duty was assigned to the Pacific Theatre but after arriving at the port of Marsielle's France the war ended in Japan and being at the port was one of the first troops to be shipped home. Assigned to Tyndall Field, Panama City, Florida as Base Communications Officer. One of the most rewarding assignments in the service was "Advisor" to the Chinese Nationalist Air Force, Taiwan in 1950 and 51. During this tour of duty was acquainted with Nationalist Chinese government officials and also personal friend of General Chenault. On return from Taiwan, attended Special Weapons School, Sandia Base, NM. and was then assigned as Officer in Charge of a Special Weapons Plant, Sandia Base, training air force personnel on maintenance and operation of the atomic bomb. Assigned Special Weapons Officer, Fairfield Air Force Station, Travis AFB, CA. in-charge of a Special Weapons Plant. Was in this position when the hydrogen bomb first became operational. The first operational hydrogen bomb was assigned to this plant. Only one B-36 was modified to carry this bomb because of its size and was stationed at Travis AFB. This bomb had a atomic bomb in the nose to detonate the hydrogen bomb in the middle with a parachute can in the rear that deployed when dropped letting the bomb down slow so the B-36 could get away from the target. This bomb weighed 46,000 lbs. Applied for Missile Training, Lowry AFB, CO. to combine Special Weapons with the Missile Program. After graduation was assigned to 1st Tactical Missile Sqdn, Bitburg, Germany. Assignments included; Calibrations Officer, and as Officer in Charge of three launch sites for the Matadore missile each carrying a atomic bomb in the nose. Two training trips to the desert in north Africa was made to fire the missile into the desert at targets 150 miles down range. On returning to the States assigned to the 9th AF, Shaw AFB, SC as Missile Maintenance Officer, writings training programs for the missile school in Orlando AFB, FL., Attended the firing of missiles at Cape Canaveral, Fl and White Sands, NM for test purposes on maintenance and operational procedures that had been written. The purpose of retiring in 1961 was to accept the position as Manager of the Bermuda Tracking Station for RCA who was the prime contractor for NASA at Cape Canaveral. Just before leaving the service for this position, received an offer to work on the Gemini Capsule program at McDonnell Aircraft in St Louis, MO. as design engineer in the Communications and Electronics Division. On returning back to Danville on weekends was offered the position as Chief Engineer with a local Television station. Was with the television station for twenty five years. During this same time period opened an aircraft radio repair shop at the Vermilion County Airport for five years then was Chief Engineer for WITY radio station for fourteen years and FM station in Covington, IN. After retiring from WICD-TV in 1986 opened Ralph Cox Electronics for the purpose of repairing electronics equipment for the area schools. |
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