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By Clark Curtis, For the Washington Daily News

Floyd McCoy Cox Jr. was born in Washington on April 26, 1922, to Floyd and Hallie Cox. They resided on N. Market Street near the intersection of 15th St., back in the day when both were just dirt roads. As a child, he would often help his father at his small grocery store near where Vals Bakery is currently located. Cox went on to attend high school at Randolph Macon Academy in Virginia, and then went to UNC Chapel Hill. It was there on September 26, 1942 that he received his draft notice and joined the Navy. “ For the first two years of war Daddy was stationed in Brooklyn, New York,” said his daughter Sally Houston. “During one of his leaves in 1943, he came back to Washington and married my mother Sarah Paul. They had only been married a year before he received his papers to ship out to the South Pacific.”

As a Yeoman Second Class, Cox boarded the US Boise, Light Cruiser Brooklyn Class in San Francisco, which was bound for the Marshall Islands. “I remember Daddy telling me years later, when the US Boise went under the Golden Gate Bridge, he wondered if he would ever make it back home,” said Houston.

Cox was stationed on the Island of Enewetak for the duration of the war. Houston said her father was never one to talk much about the war. However, he did speak with her once about the monkeys on the island. “He told me the monkeys were all over the place,” said Houston. “He said when he and the other troops would sit down with their shavers and their brush and cup, the monkeys would come up and steal their brushes, and throw them back at them.”

Cox would go on to receive several medals for his service during WWII. They include the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal.

Following his return to the US, Cox and his family would finally be able to set up permanent roots in Washington. In the early 50’s he owned and operated the Choco Drive-In Theatre in Chocowinity. And by all accounts of Houston and her brother Mayhew, he had a complete blast doing so. “Daddy would hook up a horse to a Surrey and nail a billboard on the side advertising the upcoming movie for the week,” said his son Mayhew Cox. “He would then drive it around Washington and Chocowinity. He also had a contest one time offering free admittance to whoever could get the most people in one car.” Added Houston, “there were people in the trunks, hanging out the windows, and grabbing onto the running boards for dear life.”

The Choco was also the first drive-in in the area to have in-car speakers. No longer did moviegoers have to roll down their windows so they could hear the sound coming out of the projector house. “Daddy was also pretty innovative when it came to cleaning up, after the movie,” said Cox. “He loved his horses and would bring out one of the ponies the next morning after the movie, and let them walk around the parking lot eating up all of the popcorn that had been spilled.”

Unfortunately, it all came to an end on October 5, 1954. That is when Hurricane Hazel came through and blew down the screen. “It was a brand new Cinemax screen that he had yet to insure,” said Houston. “It simply put him out of business.”

Cox would then go on to open a Cox’s Shoe Store on Main St, near where the Turnage Theatre is now located. The building was large enough that he could divide it into two spaces, the left side for mens’ shoes and the right side for the ladies. He ran that business until 1982, when he closed it down so it could focus on his longtime passion, horses. “He and my mother used to compete together on the coast riding circuit,” said Houston. “They would also dress just alike in their riding outfits. I remember after one competition the judge asked them if they were married, and they said “yes.” He then asked them if they had a good marriage and they said “yes.” The judge then awarded the blue ribbon to my mother.”

As Cox and Houston pointed out their fathers’ love of horses started at a very young age. “He oftentimes would ride his pony to school,” said Cox. “ I grew up at our house on North Market Street, past Oakdale Cemetery, where we had a huge field behind it where the horses would pasture. We used the garage for their stable. I had two modes of transportation: my bike, and a pony.”

Houston and her brother have started the process of donating many of their fathers’ WWII artifacts to Brown Library historian, Stephen Farrell, for the librarys’ history collection. They include many pictures, documents, troop ship letters including one that contained a mention of Tokyo Rose and one of her broadcasts that he had apparently heard while stationed in the Marshall Islands, and two of his uniforms. A white Naval Service uniform and a dress blue Naval Service uniform, that look as new as the day he wore them. Here we have another family in Washington sharing a part of their history for others to enjoy.

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