83-year-old retired SC veteran fulfills promise made in Vietnam bunker

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Two brothers in arms made a pact almost 50 years ago that lasted to this day.

On New Years Eve in 1968, Master Sgt. William Cox and First Sgt. James Hollingsworth pledged that they would touch base every year on New Years. The pair were in a bunker in the Marble Mountains in Vietnam with rockets and mortars firing around them, The Greenville News reported.

The two kept their promise, contacting each other as the calendar added the years. Eventually Cox found out that Hollingsworth was terminally ill. When the two Marines sat down face to face, Hollingsworth had one more request for his military brother: to give the eulogy at his funeral, the newspaper reported.

When the time came earlier this year, Cox fulfilled his final mission to his friend of five decades. Cox's final message to his brother, "Hollie, you keep 'em flying, and I'll keep 'em firing," The Greensville News Reported.

Cox also stood guard at Hollingsworth’s casket, dressed in full uniform and without the cane the 83-year-old veteran depends on, all to pay tribute to his fallen comrade.