Herman Fox was born on 1 August 1916 in Brooklyn, NY. He earned a civilian pilot’s license before WWII. His active duty began on 3 November 1943 and served in the 9th USAAF, 84th Troop Carrier Squadron in the 437th Troop Carrier Group. Before departing to England on 14 May 1944, Herman Fox started his USAAF pilot training in June 1943 at Avon Park FL, flying in PT-17 biplane trainers. In July 1943 he transferred to Gunter Field, AL, for advanced pilot training. In October 1943 he trained on twin-engine aircraft at George Field, IL, and received his Pilot rating on 3 November 1943. On 11 November he was transferred to Bergstrom Army Air Field in Austin, TX for his C-47 certification and promoted from Air Cadet to 2nd Lt. Lt. Fox was transferred to Grenada Army Air Field in Grenada, MS in December 1943 for practicing deploying parachute troops and equipment, delivering gliders with troops and equipment, reinforcement and re-supply of ground troops, and evacuation of the wounded. His final state-side training was done near Warrensburg, MO at the Sedalia Glider Base, a training base for WACO glider pilots. Here Lt. Fox learned to tow and release gliders and also earned his instrument flying certification.



Lt. Fox departed the US on 14 May 1944, along with his fellow replacement C-47 pilots for his two-week flying journey to Ramsbury, England to prepare for his D-Day missions. Lt. Fox flew C-47's in the following missions: Neptune (D-Day), invasion of Southern France (Operation Dragoon), Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge), Operation Market Garden (Netherlands), Operation Varsity (Crossing the Rhine), and Rome-Arno.



His two combat missions for the D-Day landings were towing gliders in support of the 82nd Airborne Division. He flew as co-pilot on D-Day in Mission Elmira, Serial 34 in C-47 42-100676, and again on D-Day +1 in Mission Galveston, Serial 30 in C-47 42-100589. 1st Lt. Herman Fox was honorably discharged on 10 December 1945 and had flown a total of 899 hours during his USAAF career.