John Robert Fox was a Black American soldier who was killed in action when he deliberately called artillery fire on his own position, after his position was overrun. By sacrificing himself, he succeeded in defeating a German attack in northern Italy during World War II. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 1997
, for willingly sacrificing his life. THAT’S RIGHT, 50 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH.Fox was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on May 18th, 1915, and attended Wilberforce University, participating in ROTC under Aaron R. Fisher and graduating with a commission as a second lieutenant in 1940. He was just 29 years old when he called artillery fire on his position the day after Christmas in 1944, for which he was first posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1982. It was more than fifty years after his death before Fox was finally awarded the Medal of Honor. After being repatriated, his body was buried in Colebrook Cemetery in Whitman, Massachusetts.