Lonnie Cook
No Photo Available
| Died : 31 / 7 / 2019 |
| Seaman Lonnie Cook USN (deceased)
Lonnie David Cook was born 19th November 1920 in Morris, Oklahoma. He graduated from high school in 1939 and, with few jobs available in rural Oklahoma, enrolled at Connors State Agricultural College in Warner, Oklahoma. By early 1940, he decided to join the Navy and on 2nd July he boarded the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. The Arizona was moored at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, in a row of battleships, the crews on edge as they waited for news about America's inevitable entry into the world war. Cook, a 21-year-old seaman first class, had $60 in his pocket, his winnings from a craps game the night before, and he was ready for a day in Honolulu on liberty. As he closed the locker door, he felt a rumbling. The chief turret captain burst into the hallway with the news: The Japanese were attacking. Cook raced for his battle station, inside the turret gun pit, where he helped load primer, gunpowder and a shell. The ship shuddered. The lights went out. Smoke filled the room. He and the other men stayed in the turret, waiting for the strafing to end. They stuffed their t-shirts into side ports, fearful of a gas attack. Finally, they climbed down onto the starboard quarterdeck. The Arizona had sunk low enough that Cook was able to step off the deck onto the launch, which took him to Ford Island, where he remained the rest of the day. After the attack on 7th December 1941, Cook was assigned to another ship, the USS Patterson, then two months later, transferred to the Aylwin, a destroyer. The Aylwin was part of a task force that fought in a battle in the Coral Sea and, a month later, part of the forces in the battle of Midway. He was discharged in 1948. Lonnie passed away on 31st July 2019, aged 98. |