Later Fox Work

“Dracula Moonlight” original art [undated].

As mentioned in the biographical essay, Matt Fox’s sister, Rose, married Joseph Van Wees in 1931 and settled in the Bronx, where they raised their two children, Lillian Marie and Ronald David. Ronald joined the U.S. Army’s 179th Infantry 45th Division, serving overseas during the Korean War, and the 22-year-old went missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, and officially listed as dead in 1953. He was posthumously promoted to corporal and awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star, with the accompanying citation describing Ronald’s bravery under fire. New York’s Daily News noted, “The citation said that Ronald had volunteered for an assault on a firmly entrenched enemy hilltop position at Songnaedong, Korea. It added that he had helped a fallen buddy as much as he could, and then proceeded ‘with blazing rifle into the enemy’s secondary position.’”

Subsequently, Rose became convinced that her son was still alive after seeing him among other American POWs in a photo in Life magazine, and so began her lifelong crusade to demand the government be accountable for U.S. servicemen suspected to remain in captivity. Her brother, Matt, shared his talents for her cause and he submitted vehemently anti-Communist cartoons to newspapers, including New Hampshire’s Manchester UnionLeader, which included this biographical caption: “Matthew Fox, the able artist of this drawing, knows well of Communist brutality. His nephew is a prisoner in a Communist China slave camp.”