Bane Cook was born in August 1925 in Illinois. He had an older brother. [Annotator’s Note: Cook talks about his brother.] He was in Lake Charles, Louisiana for about a month and then went into the Navy. They built a plant to get magnesium out of the salt water. He got out of the service on 1 July 1946. He retired in 1982. He grew up without money, but everyone was poor [Annotator's Note: during the Great Depression; a global economic depression that lasted through the 1930s]. They lived right across the street from the high school. He was at the preacher’s house when he heard about Pearl Harbor on the radio [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He was 16 years old when it happened. He knew he would be drafted as soon as he finished high school. He graduated in 1943. He studied general studies in Cleveland, Ohio and then he went on to study engineering. He was there for two semesters. There were 27 of them in the class and only 12 graduated.

Bane Cook went to Great Lakes, Illinois [Annotator's Note: Naval Station Great Lakes in Lake County, Illinois] for training. He was put into radar technician classes. While he was there, he go scarlet fever and had to get penicillin shots. After that, he was sent to Gulfport, Mississippi. When he was sent to Chicago, Illinois in 1945, the war ended. He was under the 7th Naval District. He was not assigned to a ship. He was in charge of arranging transportation for the men who returned home. He was discharged in June 1945 as a seaman first class. He worked for an oil company for 36 years. He retired in 1982. His wife passed away from cancer.

Bane Cook lived a good life. His time in the service does not really cross his mind. [Annotator’s Note: Cook becomes emotional thinking about how people dishonor the flag and the National Anthem.] People do not have respect for the flag anymore. He thought the museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] was impressive. He liked being in school. He does not think his time in the service changed him because he was serving stateside.