Following the attack on December 7, 1941, many men, and women, volunteered to serve in the American armed forces. Harvey Weir Cook, a WWI flying ace, was one of those who volunteered and reentered the Army Air Corps service as a procurement and flight training officer. 

Cook was born on June 30, 1892, to Dr. B. H. Cook and graduated from Andersonville high school in Indiana. When World War I broke out in Europe, Cook, who was attended college until 1917, left to as a civilian volunteer ambulance driver in France. The United States had not yet entered the conflict, but when they did, Cook enlisted in the aviation section of the US Army Signal Corps. Following flight training, Cook was assigned to the 94th Aero Squadron and serviced with Captain Eddie Rickenbacker's, who would become a famous World War I, flying ace.

Lieutenant Cook was an exceptionally aggressive pilot in combat and was twice cited for attacking formations of multiple German Fokker planes on his own with credit for shooting down a total of seven.  Aircraft were not the only targets for the 94th Aero Squadron and Lt. Cook and fellow pilots also performed missions to take down enemy balloons used to observe allies’ troop movements and then targets allies with ammunitions and counter movements of troops and other military options.  

Enemy balloons were protected by machine-gun fire from the ground, and some were booby-trapped with a straw figure and explosives to be exploded from the ground upon attack. Balloons were usually inflated with highly flammable hydrogen used due to its abundant availability. According to a 94th Squadron operations report, on October 8, 1918, while Cook was attacking enemy balloons heavy machine gun fire shattered his propeller. While he was able to land between lines, his airplane was destroyed by an artillery shot as soon as he stepped out and escaped to American lines under cover of infantry fire.    

Cook was credited with shooting down seven aircraft, including 4 enemy balloons, making him a flying ace. For his actions he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross with one oak leaf cluster and promoted to the rank of captain. 

In the Flying Aviation magazine article, “Wearers of the D.S. Medals” by Carl B. Ogilvie the short biography and write up about Cook’s action as seen below can be found with the General Order No. 44, W.D., 1919 page 15. 

“The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Harvey Weir Cook, Captain (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Bois-de-Dole, France, August 1, 1918. Sighting six enemy monoplanes at an altitude of 3,500 meters, Captain Cook, attacked them despite their numerical superiority, shooting down one and driving off the others.”

“The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Harvey Weir Cook, Captain (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Crepion, France, October 30, 1918. Captain Cook attacked three enemy bi-place planes at an altitude of 1,000 meters. After a few minutes of severe fighting his guns jammed, but after clearing the jam he returned to the attack, shot down one of his adversaries in flames, and forced the other two to retire to their own lines.”.

Cook was honorably discharged from the 94th Aero Squadron on 2 Jun 1919 and assumed command of the 147th Aero Squadron on 18 Sep 1919. On 26 Dec 1919 Cook was relieved of command of 147th Aero Squadron and honorably discharged. 

Cook and fellow flying ace, Rickenbacker became friends, known to each other as "Weird" and "Rick." Both Cook and Rickenbacker, were strong proponents of more adequate training for rookie combat pilots, having themselves benefited from aerial combat training by Lafayette Escadrille veteran Raoul Lufbery and others. 

Cook Reenlists to train new Pilots
After December 7, 1941, Cook achieved the rank of colonel in the 38th Division of the Indiana Air Guard located in Indianapolis.  After intensely lobbying for an assignment to the front lines, Cook went back into the Army Air Corps service as a procurement officer and became the commander of air bases in New Caledonia. 

It was no surprise that Cook was active while in this position training young pilots for combat. Unfortunately, on March 24, 1943, while training young pilots for combat Cook died in an airplane crash. 

Colonel Cook left his base, Oua Tom airbase piloting a Bell P-39 Airacobra to find and to bomb a reported submarine. While hunting for the submarine, Cook misjudged his altitude because of cloudy weather and struck the side of a mountain (Ouassio Hill) crashing to his death. 

Prior to his death and after World War I, Cook helped to form the U.S. Army’s U.S. Air Mail Service and was one of the first transcontinental airmail pilots. During Cook's time as a civilian in living in the state of Indiana, Cook served for many years as director and vice president of the American Legion National Aeronautics Commission in Indianapolis and was later the first American Legion National Director of Aviation.   Cook was also instrumental in the Smithsonian eventually recognizing the Wright Brothers’ contributions to the brother’s flight at “Kitty Hawk” in 1903 as the first powered aircraft flight.

Cook is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Section O, Grave 440. In his honor, the Indianapolis Municipal Airport was renamed Weir Cook Municipal Airport and in 1944 a Liberty ship was named H. Weir Cook. 

Visit his VLM page at: https://bit.ly/3FsO7gY

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