Eric J Cox
I didn't like going to school and really just wanted to get out on my own. My health insurance under my parents' family plan would expire when I turned 19 if I wasn't enrolled in school. Racing Motocross is considered a high risk profession and I wasn't in a position to be able to afford my own healthcare. It just made sense for me to serve my country for many reasons. I have always admired the Marines and it seemed like a challenge so I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in March of 1999.
I went to school at Camp Pendleton, CA, to learn to be an Assault Amphibious Vehicle Mechanic or MOS 2141. It wasn't my original choice but it's what I got stuck with. After MOS School, I was stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC, just 3 hours from my hometown. Most of my friends from Asheboro High School had moved and were in school at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte which was just 4 hours away. I was in Charlotte so much that I actually began working the door of a club right in Uptown Charlotte on the weekends. After September 11, 2001, I knew that it was only a matter of time before I would be deployed to combat. Rumors began flying quickly about our deployment and dates were issued but continued to be delayed. Ryan and Russ are my best friends from the Marinesand we had grown very close.
In October of 2002, I met a girl who became my Girlfriend and we fell into deep passionate Love. Our time together would
be short lived. On February 6, 2003, she came to Camp Lejeune for an early Valentine's Day. It would be our last night together for I was deploying the following day to Kuwait with my unit and no one knew for how long. No one knew what our mission was. No one knew when we would be able to talk to our loved ones again. No one knew if we would make it home.I was fortunate to return home to my family and loved ones on June 3, 2003 but I had changed. I didn't want to talk about my deployment. I didn't want to open the journal I had written. I didn't even want people to know that I was a Marine.
I moved to Charlotte in April of 2004 and began bartending at Phil's Tavern in Uptown Charlotte. With the extra money I was making, I began investing in real estate. I then took that to the next level and got my real estate license and made it a career.
In July of 2006, I began working for Southgroup Realty. In 2007 I was nominated at the Realtor Rookie of the Year. In a strange circumstance, a friend of mine made me realize that I should be proud to have served in the US Marine Corps and that I do have quite the story to tell from Operation: Iraqi Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism.In December of 2007, I opened my journal for the first time and read the story. I had forgotten most everything that happened. I couldn't believe that I had blocked so much without realizing I had done it. I have now relived and rewritten my journal for the world to read. I've also incorporated the actual letters written and received by my loved ones and supporters.
The purpose of my book, CPL COX, is to help service members, their spouses, parents, and loved ones better understand what deployment is like on both sides, so they can better cope with their past experiences, current situation, or fear of what's to come.
Semper Fi
Eric J Cox
Copyright . Eric Cox. All rights reserved.
