Norman Cook was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in November 1923. His father was a bookkeeper before the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], and the company he worked for went bankrupt. His father had difficulty finding a job and moved around a lot. He graduated from high school in 1940 when he was 16 years old. He found a job making and stacking 55 gallon-steel drums. He found out that his friend had signed up for the Army Air Corps, and felt like he wanted to do the same thing, so he went to the recruiting station. He lied about his age, enlisted the day after his birthday, and was sworn in Montgomery [Annotator’s Note: Montgomery, Alabama]. On 23 November 1940, he was sent to MacDill Field [Annotator’s Note: MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida] for training. He was issued old and outdated clothing. After he completed training, he was sent to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri for his next orders. He was then sent to Chanute, Illinois for mechanic school. After graduation, Cook became an aircraft mechanic instructor and taught until late 1942. He even trained men from the 99th Pursuit Squadron, who later became part of the Tuskegee Airmen, for his first class. He went to Boca Raton [Annotator’s Note: Boca Raton, Florida] for training, and later went to Yale [Annotator’s Note: Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut]. He graduated in May 1943 and reported to Wendover Field in Utah and got into B-24 [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] service with the 492nd Bombardment Group. He was then sent to Sioux City, Iowa for more training. He recalled when Jimmy Stewart [Annotator’s Note: James Maitland "Jimmy" Stewart, an American actor and military pilot] joined the 703rd Bombardment Squadron in Iowa. He was a remarkable man. When new B-24s came in, Cook was ordered to calibrate them, during which he had a scary experience.

Norman Cook finished his third phase of training in the Army Air Corps and was sent to Mitchell, South Dakota. He was given K rations [Annotator's Note: individual daily combat food ration consisting of three boxed meals] with no heat and no hot water. He boarded a train and went to Camp Shanks [Annotator’s Note: Camp Shanks, New Jersey]. One day, they stood in the rain for three hours while wearing their helmets. He boarded the SS Queen Mary to go overseas. The captain of the ship zigzagged [Annotator's Note: a naval anti-submarine maneuver] across the Atlantic and landed in Glasgow, Scotland after five days at sea. He then boarded a train to England. When they reached Royal Air Force Tibenham Base, outside of Norwich, England, they were assigned to a Nissen hut [Annotator's Note: prefabricated metal building]. The very first evening, there was a yellow warning, then red warning, and then a crash warning. He exited his barracks and watched the Germans bomb a nearby city. His unit began to fly bombing missions. There was one mission in which only Jimmy Stewart’s [Annotator’s Note: James Maitland "Jimmy" Stewart, an American actor and military pilot] group bombed the correct target, while the rest of the groups accidentally bombed Switzerland. In February 1944, his group went to Germany to bomb an aircraft assembly plant. They could not initially locate the target and German fighters came after them. They lost 18 aircraft that day. Cook was transferred to the 856th Bombardment Squadron, 492nd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force which was seen as a bad luck outfit because they lost the most aircraft in the shortest period of time, over 50 aircraft in three months. The Army Air Corps decided to break up the group, and his squadron was sent to Royal Air Force Harrington Base to join the 801st Bombardment Group, known as the Carpetbaggers. Cook was sent to 8th Air Force Composite Command Headquarters and assigned to the air inspector’s office. He was billeted with an English family.

[Annotator’s Note: Someone in the background is audible throughout this segment. The interviewee also knocks on the table throughout this segment.] Norman Cook served with the 856th Bombardment Squadron, 492nd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force in Europe during World War 2. As the war was wearing down, he became part of a disarmament group with the 9th Air Force and was sent to Paris, France, arriving in February 1945. His base was a chateau, but he stayed in a tent. They came across a German 109 [Annotator's Note: German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft], but since it was badly booby trapped, they left it alone. During this time, Cook became unglued. He could not sleep or eat. He was sent to a hospital and then was sent back to the United States. He was hospitalized in El Paso [Annotator’s Note: El Paso, Texas] for some time, and then was given a pass to go home for leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 0:37:53.000.] He was home when the Japanese surrendered to the Americans. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 0:39:39.000.] After the war, Cook contacted some of the men in his group to see where they were when the war ended. He discusses his training in the United States and how it took three days on a train to get to the newly formed base in Chanute [Annotator’s Note: Chanute, Illinois]. His training taught him about aircraft mechanic structures, instruments, electrical systems, hydraulic systems, propellers, engines, and more. He also went through instructor school.

[Annotator’s Note: The interviewee knocks on the table throughout this segment.] Norman Cook served with the 856th Bombardment Squadron, 492nd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force in Europe during World War 2. He was in the same group as Jimmy Stewart [Annotator’s Note: James Maitland "Jimmy" Stewart, an American actor and military pilot] and met him several times. When he went overseas to England, he received lots of British equipment. He did not interact with the locals very much due to time. He worked constantly and was always very cold due to the weather. One time his unit received a bunch of ham and margarine. They received bread from the British which had some saw dust in it. He also ate Australian mutton and thought it tasted awful. At one point during his service, he “became unglued,” and he does not know why. He was sent back to the United States and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder for about 10 years after the war. He attended Tulane University [Annotator’s Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] for the mechanical engineering program before he separated from the service. Without serving in the military, Cook would not have received the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] that allowed him to go to college.