PFC, US ARMY Air Forces, MARIA ELENA COOK

  

Born: August 2, 1927

Died: March 1, 2017

Female Veteran | US Army Air Force | WAC (Women's Army Corps), WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps) | World War II

Maria Elena Lovato Cook enlisted in the Army Air Forces on August 14, 1944. Her military occupation was listed as a radio mechanic. During her time in the military, Lovato Cook was awarded the American Service Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.  She left the military in 1946 at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Lovato Cook was born to Anita and Ramon Eustacia Lovato in 1924 in La Joya, New Mexico. She was raised in Belen and was one of six children. Lovato Cook was fond of dancing and traveling. Her obituary tribute describes her zest for life: “She traveled the world in the service and did the foxtrot in Germany. After Elena got married to Harry Barclay Cook, she did the Polka in Warsaw, put her kids on a camel in Cairo, and dragged them to the pyramids. She also twisted in Santiago, watusied in Quito, and visited Dracula’s castle in Romania. Elena danced around a bonfire in Copenhagen, crossed Check Point Charlie in Berlin, and paddled down a river in the Philippines in a bamboo canoe. She ended up bowling in Belen and playing Bingo at the Isleta Palace.” ²

Notes:

1. Ancestry.com. New Mexico, U.S., World War II Records, 1941-1945 [database on-+line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
2. “Maria Elena Cook Obituary.” Tribute Archive. Noblin Funeral Service, March 2017. https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/18911189/Maria-Elena-Cook.

Prepared by Sue Ruth, PhD, Central New Mexico Community College, sruth2@cnm.edu

Featured Image:

Maria Elena Cook Obituary.” Tribute Archive. Noblin Funeral Service, March 2017.