James J. Cooke
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James J. Cooke | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 2, 1939 |
| Died | March 28, 2016 (aged 76) |
| Occupation | Soldier, historian, author, academic |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Mississippi College University of Georgia |
| Spouse | Josephine Alexander (m. 1961) |
| Children | 4 |
James J. Cooke (2 August 1939 – 28 March 2016) was an American historian, author, academic and soldier. He is known for his studies of the United States Armed Forces during World War I.
Born at St. Mary's Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland on August 2, 1939, and baptized into the Christian Faith at Christ Lutheran Church in York, Pennsylvania, a month later. He resided in Baltimore until the family moved to Brooklyn Park. In 1956, his junior year of high school, he joined the US Army Reserves. He wrote in his high school year book in 1957 that he wanted to be a "college history teacher". His love of history began in the time he spent with his family in York. Charles Wise, a concert violinist, served in France in World War I as an infantry soldier. His great-grandmother Mina Belle Wise went West to Montana to do her Christian duty to teach for a year, and returned with stories of the "cowboys and the Indians". His great-aunt Mary Utz was a strong Christian, advocating Victorian virtues. Their impact was great and long-lasting. While in York he met one Union Civil War veteran, and also an old lady who saw Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg in 1863.
Upon graduation from Brooklyn Park High School in 1957, Cooke tried his hand at various jobs, since college funds were non-existent. He then joined the US Regular Army, and after training in the United States he was assigned to the US Army General Depot at Ingrandes-sur-Vienne, France. In September 1960, he met a Miss Josephine Alexander of Vicksburg, Mississippi, who had just arrived on post as a Department of the Army Civilian (DAC) Service Club Hostess. On October 6, 1961, they were married, first in the Office of the Mayor of Ingrandes (as required by French law), and then in a ceremony in the post chapel. In 1962, they returned to the United States.
Cooke entered Mississippi College, Clinton, Mississippi, in 1962, earning a BA in 1965 and MA in 1966. He was accepted in the PhD program at the University of Georgia, and graduated in the summer of 1969.[1] While at Georgia he studied under Professor Alf Andrew Heggoy and developed a speciality in Arab, Islamic North Africa, which was coupled with a field in Modern European History. Cooke's dissertation Eugene Etienne and the New French Imperialism required study and research in Paris, France, made possible by a French study grant. During the last few months of his PhD studies he had several job offers and accepted the post of assistant professor of history at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, where his wife had received her BA 1959.
Early writing career
Being a staunch advocate for the concept that a university professor had the obligation to research and publish as well as teach, he began by having articles accepted in the journals The Muslim World,[2] African Studies Review,[3] African Quarterly (New Delhi, India), The Indian Political Science Review, Military Affairs, and others. His first book, New French Imperialism: The Third Republic and Colonial Expansion (1973) and his second book, France, 1789 - 1962 (1975) were published in England by David and Charles Ltd. A third book was a collaborative effort, Through Foreign Eyes: Westerners View North Africa (1982). At that time Cooke, Alf Heggoy, Claude Sturgill (University of Florida) and others founded The French Colonial Historical Society.[4]
United States Army service
Still feeling a strong attachment to the military, Cooke sought a commission in the United States Army and was commissioned a second lieutenant in military intelligence as a strategic analyst. He began his officer's service, however, as an armored cavalry platoon leader in A Troop, 108th Armored Cavalry of the Mississippi Army National Guard. He commanded B Troop of the 108th for six years. In the 1980s he joined the Intelligence Section of the 155th Armored Brigade of the Mississippi Army National Guard, and commanded that section until he was promoted to major and became the executive officer of the 2nd Battalion, 198th Armor Regiment, an M1 tank battalion.
He returned to the headquarters of the 155th Brigade, took command of the Readiness Section and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In August 1990, with Desert Shield in progress in Saudi Arabia, the Army called up every Arabic-speaking officer it could find. Cooke, a lieutenant colonel with intelligence experience, was near the head of the list. He left the National Guard for a return to the Regular Army and was assigned to the G2 (Intelligence), XVIII Airborne Corps. He was posted as the corps liaison officer for intelligence to The Saudi Eastern Province Area Command, with authority extending to the Saudi–Kuwaiti border.
In January the XVIII Airborne Corps shifted its area of operations west. Cooke, a fluent French speaker, was assigned as the corps liaison officer for intelligence with the French Division Daguet, as part of Operation Daguet. During Desert Storm Cooke and the division saw heavy combat, and at the end of the war they occupied the town of As Salman, Iraq. For his combat service Cooke was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.
