On New Year’s Eve in 1968, two Marines made each other a promise. Five decades later, Master Sgt. William H. Cox made good on one more. Retired Marines Master Sgt. William H. Cox and First Sgt. James Hollingsworth first met while hiding from rockets and mortars in a bunker in 1968. Fearing they would not make it out alive, the men – who at the time were strangers – made a pact. The pact being that if they both survived the war, they would contact one another every year on New Year’s Eve for a chat. And they did exactly that for the next five decades. Earlier this year, a now 83-year-old Cox made the trip from his home in South Carolina to say goodbye to his dying friend, Hollingsworth, in Georgia. It was then that he was asked to make one final promise – to stand guard over his coffin and deliver the eulogy at his funeral. I think this article is neutral and anyone can read and understand it. I think this article is positive because it explains a bond and a real friendship between two.

Do you have any friends that you are really close too?