At 17 he ran away to join the army and served on the Western Front during World War I as a medical orderly, receiving the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, and the Croix de Guerre for his meritorious service.

Following graduation, Fox became an itinerant Methodist preacher, holding posts in Downs, Illinois, and Rye, New Hampshire, before joining the Boston University School of Theology and becoming an ordained minister in 1934.

In late 1942, Fox was transferred to Camp Myles Standish in Taunton, Massachusetts, and attended Chaplains School at Harvard University.

[1] The four chaplains were each awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart medals, receiving national acclaim for their courage and self-sacrifice.

[2] George L. Fox is honored with a Lesser Feast[3] along with the rest of the Four Chaplains (Alexander D. Goode, John P. Washington and Clark V. Poling) on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America on February 3.