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A Citizen Soldier in the Air.Charles H. Cook is my father-in-law. As I have gotten to know him over the last couple of years, I have enjoyed hearing his occasional stories of his experiences as a B-24 pilot in the Pacific in WWII. He was always very modest about these stories, but I wanted to know more, about how he got interested in flying, what it was like to fly in combat, and all the rest. So I asked if I could interview him, and he agreed. |
At the age of 80, Charlie’s memory of events of almost 60 years ago is amazing to me. We talked for about three hours on August 6, 2000 at Charlie’s home in Keene, New Hampshire. Most of this article is based on Charlie’s recollections and items that he saved, but I also want to thank Jason Dilworth for helping with the background research and for providing scans of photographs in his collection. Jason’s late grandfather, George C. Porter, was a gunner on another B-24 ("Big Chief") in Charlie’s squadron in New Guinea, the 321st Bomb Squadron, 90th Bomb Group. Other credits, references and links are at the end of the article. From flight records kept by Charlie and with help from Jason Dilworth and Wiley Woods, I was able to find the names of all nine of Charlie’s crew members. I have attempted to contact these men, without much luck so far. If a reader knows any of the crewmen mentioned in this article, please contact me. Charlie cared a lot for that crew, and they were a great team, so we’d love to hear from or hear about any of them. Thanks a lot!
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