Henry Oren Cox, Jr. was born on January 28, 1921 in Maryville, Blount County, Tennessee. He was a graduate of the 1940 class of Cumberland County High School. 1Lt Cox was the Pilot on B17F 42-5906 of the 562nd Bomb Squadron named "Sondra Kay" after the baby of one of the crew members, left its base at Knettishall, Suffolk as one of 16 from that squadron. However, cloud over the target prevented bombing and the aircraft proceeded to the secondary target which was the submarine pens at La Pallice. On the return flight, the formations ran into rain and low cloud and aircraft were unable to stay in formation and returned independently. In darkness and rain, one crashed in the Black Mountains, another on Exmoor and another made a forced landing on three engines at Shobden. "Sondra Kay" crossed the coast at 20:37 hours and some time later and with fuel running short and in poor visibility crashed into Rhiw-gwraidd at Upper Cilgu near Rhayader, England. Lt Cox is now buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom. He also has a cenotaph located in Crossville City Cemetery, Crossville, Cumberland County, Tennessee. He was one of the many brave Americans of the 388th Bomber Group who lost their lives in aerial operations against the German forces from June 1943 - August 1945.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov