Nathan William Cox – Sergeant, United States Army

U.S. Department of Defense

Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 511-10
June 21, 2010

DOD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Specialist Nathan W. Cox, 27, of Fremont, Calif., died June 16, 2010, at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained June 14, 2010, when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire at Near Forward Operating Base, Khogyani, Afghanistan.  He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky.


Specialist Nathan W. Cox, 21, of Fremont, California, died June 16, 2010, at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained June 14 2010, when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire at Near Forward Operating Base, Khogyani, Afghanistan. Spcecialist Cox was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky.


1 August 2010:

During his breaks amid the violence and chaos of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, when most soldiers would rest or play video games, Nathan Cox studied Arabic. He practiced such phrases as “What do you need?” and “How can we help?” — phrases he knew would help him engage with Iraqi elders and community leaders.

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Cox continued to study and strive throughout his military career. By the time he arrived in Afghanistan for his fourth tour of duty earlier this year, he had been selected for the Army Special Forces, learned Farsi and completed training to become a combat medic.

“Nathan went above and beyond the average soldier in pretty much everything he did,” said Stephen Kraft, who served in the same platoon in Iraq.

Army Specialist Nathan William Cox, 27, was fatally injured June 14, 2010, when insurgents attacked his unit with small-arms fire at a forward operating base in the Khogyani district of eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, on the Pakistani border. He was a healthcare specialist assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky.

His family flew from their home in the Bay Area city of Fremont to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, where he was in a coma. He died June 16, 2010.

After his death, he was awarded a Bronze Star.

Cox’s family, friends and fellow soldiers described him as a quiet and thoughtful man who never asked for special attention or recognition, but always seemed focused on solving problems and helping others.

“He had this amazing situational awareness,” his brother Patrick wrote in an e-mail. “It’s hard to describe his thought process as he kept it internal — whatever it was, he just did it and did it well.”

Born July 15, 1982, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Cox moved with his family to Fremont when he was 5. As a boy, he spoke seldom and loved spending time outdoors. In high school, he played on Fremont’s Washington High School water polo team. He was a small player, so he had to play with skill and savvy.

“He couldn’t outmuscle you; he would study the game and figure out how to play it with his mind,” said his mother, Margaret Cox. “He kind of did everything that way.”

Cox joined the Army in 2002 and was first deployed for the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. He served as a combat engineer in the 82nd Airborne Division.

COX, NATHAN WILLIAM

  • SGT   US ARMY
  • DATE OF BIRTH: 07/15/1982
  • DATE OF DEATH: 06/16/2010
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 60  SITE 9255
    ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Arlington National Cemetery Gravesite Photo Arlington National Cemetery Gravesite Photo nwcox-gravesite-photo-by-eileen-horan-august-2010-001 nwcox-gravesite-photo-by-eileen-horan-august-2010-002

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