Ronnie Cox’s father, Walter “Fred” Cox (RdM), was a Radarman on the Calvert during WWII. Here is a picture of the Calvert’s radar men from Ronnie’s photograph collection. Annotations are based on the writing on the back of the photograph (also provided by Ronnie). The officer in the middle of the back row was not named. Notice the bright white “Dixie Cup” caps, compared to the grey/blue dyed caps in many of the other WWII-era crew photographs.
Standing rear: Barr | Robert E. Randle, RdM3c | Unknown Officer | Vernon R. Witthans, RdM2c(T) | Fred Cox RdM2c
Kneeling front: Wendell R. Sharpe, RdM3c | Benjamin Sklar, RdM2c(T) | Curits W. Killion, RdM2c
Fred Cox is wearing a life vest around his waist, and it is likely that he was “on duty” on the bridge at the time the picture was taken. Fred served aboard the Calvert from its very first deployment all the way to early August of 1945 when he went on leave. While he was on leave the war ended, and though he had to go back to California to muster-out, he never returned to the Calvert. Fred died in 1967.
