Coach Makes Commencement Address from Iraq
'Greetings from Coach Cox in sunny Baghdad," he said via video at graduation.
June 8, 2007 — -- National Guardsman Maj. Ricky Cox is stationed in Iraq, but Thursday night his heart was back home when he made a special appearance at a high school graduation.
Cox, who is a beloved teacher and coach at St. James High School in Garden City, S.C., gave a taped commencement speech to the graduating class.
"Hello and greetings from Coach Cox in sunny Baghdad," he told the students in the speech. "The weather's hot, not a place I would recommend for a vacation."
Cox's wife, Beth, is a teacher at the high school and his son, Jamie, is a member of the graduating class.
"You have made [your] mother and I so proud," Cox told his son in the speech as he choked back tears.
The coach's emotional message was a surprise to both his family and to the students.
"Now Class of 2007, go out into life and become great," Cox said.