Everett Cook

Everett Richard Cook
Everett Richard Cook, 1918
Nickname(s)	Cookie
Born	13 December 1894 Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Died	21 January 1974 Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	Air Service, United States Army, U.S.A.F.
Years of service	1917 - 1919 (WWI); 1942 - 1945 (WW II)
Rank	Brigadier General
Unit	Air Service, United States Army (WW I) 91st Aero Squadron United States Air Force (WW II) 8th & 12th Air Force
Commands held	91st Aero Squadron
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, French Legion d'Honneur and Croix de Guerre

Air Service, United States Army (WW I)

United States Air Force (WW II)

Captain (later Brigadier General) Everett Richard Cook was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories. During World War II, Cook became Deputy Chief of Staff for the U. S. 8th Air Force, headquartered in London, under the command of General Carl "Toohey" Spaatz.

Cook joined the U. S. Army "Aero Service," the embryonic predecessor of the U.S. Air Force, in May 1917. He entered service as a First Lieutenant in the European theater in November, 1917, and began flying reconnaissance missions in combat, behind enemy lines on June 3, 1918.

By September 1918, he had risen to commander of the 91st Aero Squadron and attained the rank of Captain on November 3, 1918, just a week before the Armistice. He flew a Salmson 2A2 for his five victories over German fighters in September and October 1918. His gunner for four of those wins was William T. Badham. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Legion d'Honneur, and Croix de Guerre, and the 91st, collectively, was decorated with the Croix de Guerre with Palm.

Cook served on General Billy Mitchell's staff after World War I. He then joined the Memphis Cotton Exchange, becoming its president in 1931. Cook founded the "Memphis Cotton Carnival" in 1931 to bring attention to the Cotton Exchange, and the Carnival has run every successive year since 1931 except three years during World War II. Cook's daughter, Phoebe Cook, was Queen of the Cotton Carnival in 1946, and his son Edward W. "Ned" Cook, a U.S.A.F. fighter pilot in World War II, was King of the Carnival in 1951.

Everett R. Cook was a founder of The Cotton Research Foundation (1936) and the National Cotton Council (1938), and served as chairman of the Council's export committee. It was his position on the Council, which, in early 1942, led to his appointment as Vice President of the Commodity Credit Association, where he was "in charge of importation of all agricultural products in the United States."

In August, 1942, Major General Asa Duncan, a former member of Cook's Ninety-First Aero Squadron and Chief of Staff to General Carl "Toohey" Spaatz, commander of all U.S. Air Forces in Europe, asked Everett R. Cook to return to military service as General Spaatz's Deputy Chief of Staff. Cook re-enlisted as a Colonel of the newly formed U.S. Air Force, of which General Spaatz eventually became the first Chief of Staff. After the German surrender, General Spaatz was ordered to Guam where he commanded U.S. Air Forces in the Pacific. Among his responsibilities, Spaatz issued the orders to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945, on direct instructions from President Truman.