A peaceful end to an 80-year journey is 'what Ben would have wanted'

In the summer of 2006, Daniel (Dan) O’Sullivan found himself in the Solomon Islands, working as a paramedic for global health provider Aspen Medical.

Browsing a local market during his downtime, he came across an elderly man selling various relics and artifacts from World War II. Among the scattered trinkets was a conspicuous set of dog tags.

“Call it fate, chance, divine intervention or just plain luck, but something drew me to them,” Dan says.

“I picked them up straight away and immediately knew I wanted to try to return them to their wearer’s family.”

The search began the moment Dan’s feet hit Australian soil. With not much else to go on but a name – Benjamin A Cox – he knew it would be a struggle.

But being a veteran himself, a former medic of the Royal Australian Navy, Dan felt a strong connection to Lieutenant ‘Ben’ Cox and knew that if they were his own military tags, he would want someone to send them home.

After trying just about everything, from trawling early internet forums and visiting both the Australian War Memorial and US Embassy to sending out emails to anyone with the same surname, Dan almost threw in the towel.

“Everything came to a dead end, which was disheartening, to say the least,” he says.

“It was 14 years before I managed to make any sort of connection. Then three years ago, I reached out to the Maine Veterans’ Society and they passed my story, Ben’s story, to the local press.”

On 14 February 2020, an email appeared. The sender was none other than Eunice Cox, Ben’s niece-in-law.

Dan was able to learn about Ben’s history at home, the role he played in the Battle of Guadalcanal and the events leading up to his death in action. The Cox family also shared personal documents and letters to home that Ben had written before he died.

“I burst into tears – I couldn’t believe it. For a decade and a half, I felt like I knew Ben, even though I knew next to nothing about him,” Dan says.

“Suddenly, his whole world opened up for me to see and understand. I’ve read his words and his family’s words back to him, over and over.

“The memories they contain are so deep, so intimate. I will absolutely cherish them forever.”

Dan hoped to travel to the US soon after, but as timing would have it, COVID-19 swept the planet and hit Australia in force just a few months later.

“I stayed in contact with Eunice and the rest of the family and got to know them all quite well,” he says.

“I was pretty much waiting with bated breath for it to be safe enough for me to go and see them and to pass Ben’s tags back to his family.”

Bruce Armstrong, Group CEO of Aspen Medical, was immediately in support of Dan’s need to meet the Cox family in person. The company offered to pay for two long-haul flights from Sydney to New York and back.

“As a veteran-owned business with many Australian Defence Force veterans working across our global group in project management, administrative, logistics and clinical roles … We get it,” Bruce says.

“It was a no-brainer to support this final part of Dan’s journey to the US.”

After being picked up at the airport, Dan was taken straight to the cemetery to visit the Lieutenant’s resting place.

“It was beautiful. The first snow had just fallen for the winter and Ben’s family gathered around me as I placed my hand on his gravestone,” he says.

“I was and still am truly humbled by the experience. To be standing there after 14 years of chasing and three waiting was emotional to say the least. I still get emotional about it … I’ll never forget that feeling. Being able to pay my respects was everything.”

Dan returned to Canberra in late November, where he continues to work for Aspen Medical.

Benjamin A Cox was born on 20 March 1916, the second youngest of five sons and a daughter. On 20 March 1944, while advancing his platoon, he was struck by a mortar fragment and killed by the machine gun fire that followed.

His peers are said to have been devastated by his death and to have spoken very highly of his leadership.

One of Ben’s nephews, Jim Cox, now holds the tags and will ensure that they continue to be passed down through the family to be treasured for years to come.

When asked about future plans to go rummaging through markets, Dan laughs and firmly puts the idea to rest.

“This journey has taken 17 years, so I’m certainly not in any rush to start another like it, but every moment I spent searching was worth its weight in gold.”

“It’s pretty much the most important thing I’ve ever done. It means so much to me, to Ben’s family and I think to Ben as well.

“We are talking about a man who, 80 years ago, made the ultimate sacrifice by laying down his life for his country. I think those tags finally coming home is what he would have wanted.”