For 5 Decades, Marines Kept Their Promise, And Then One Died

PIEDMONT, SC — A bunker in the Marble Mountains of Vietnam was no place to be on New Year’s Eve in 1968. Two Marines — Master Sgt. William H. Cox and First Sgt. James “Hollie” Hollingsworth were hunkered down, shielding themselves from the rockets and mortars, when they made the pact: If they made it out of the bunker and Vietnam alive, they’d get ahold of each other every New Year’s Eve.

The were little more than kids at the time, strangers when they met on their way to Vietnam earlier that year, made good on their promise every New Year’s Eve for almost five decades. They’ll miss Dec. 31, 2017, though. Hollingsworth died earlier this year of a terminal illness at the age of 80.

Before he did, Cox, 83, who lives in Piedmont, South Carolina, traveled to Hephzibah, Georgia, to say goodbye to his buddy. He got one last promise out of his buddy, to deliver the eulogy at his funeral and stand guard over his casket.

“I said, ‘Boy, that’s a rough mission you’re assigning me to there,’ ” Cox told Greenvilleonline.com. But a promise is a promise, especially among Marines, Cox said, describing their bond as “different from any other branch of service.”

The two had served together in the Marine helicopter squadron VMO-2 — Hollingsworth was a mechanic and door gunner and Cox was an ordnance chief and door gunner. They flew multiple combat missions together, and Cox described their relationship as “like brothers.”

When he closed his eulogy, Cox repeated the words he hd spoken after every combat mission:

“Hollie, you keep ‘em flying, and I’ll keep ‘em firing.”

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