Jun 08
19
Chronicle-Telegram |
Family awaiting return of soldier’s body from Iraq
Chronicle-Telegram, OH - 4 hours ago
“He was a real cool kid, a true soldier and a very nice American,” she said. “He did real well, made friends easily, and the best person you want to know. ...
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Jason Cox, 21, had been deployed a year with the 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg and was serving at Forward Operating Base Sukanya, south of Baghdad, said his brother, Ryan.
“He was extremely patriotic and wanted to do great things for his country, and that’s what he did,” Ryan Cox said. “He was proud to be there, but he was definitely ready to come back and see his family.”
Jason Cox was killed 28 days before he was supposed to return to Elyria to visit his family. He had another eight-month deployment after that — and when he was through with the service, he was going to marry his fiancee, Erika Kranek.
“He talked about coming home and said he was packing already,” Kranek said Wednesday. “We were supposed to go on vacation when he got here.”
She said he used to call her twice a day, and they had talked Sunday night on her birthday.
Kranek said she was expecting to meet him online Monday evening, but he never showed up.
“He never called. I thought he must have been sleeping,” she said.
Jason’s mother, Kathy, said she was very close to her son.
“He was a real cool kid, a true soldier and a very nice American,” she said. “He did real well, made friends easily, and the best person you want to know.”
Kathy Cox said her son’s body could be returned as soon as Saturday but will likely take until next Wednesday.
Ryan Cox, who formerly served in the Army and is now a Reservist, said his brother wanted to go to college after leaving the military. He said he talked about going to technical school to work on cars or become a mechanical engineer.
Jason Cox was a 2004 graduate of Lorain County Joint Vocational School, where he had studied auto mechanics. His brother said Jason bought his first car at age 14 just to tear the engine apart and see how it worked.
He said Jason had owned several cars and could often be found tinkering under the hood before he was even old enough to drive.
