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This is a teachable moment as
the saying goes.
Attached is the Example Basic Training then
Paratroop Training in a pdf file.
Eugene A. Cook Jr. had lied for
years saying he was in Normandy during the invasion
as a member of Company A of the 506th
Parachute Infantry 101st Airborne
Division. The only true fact is that his name was
Eugene A. Cook Jr. He wasn’t in Normandy as a
paratrooper in the 506th Parachute Infantry.
I’ve watched some of his interviews on YouTube and
he tells a hell of a story but that’s all it is, a
story.
There is a real paratrooper
named Eugene N. Cook who did go into Normandy on
June 6, 1944. Private Cook was a member of Company
D 502nd Parachute Infantry 101st
Airborne Division.
It seems at some point that the
fake Eugene A. Cook Jr. took the exploits of the
real Private Cook from Co D and made it his own.
He just chanced the unit to Company A 506th
Parachute Infantry. It has happened before and here
is a link
http://www.airborneinnormandy.com/fraudschwartz.htm.
Here is where the teachable
moment comes in. Attached to this narrative is the
documentation explaining why the fake Cook couldn’t
have been in Normandy in WWII as a paratrooper. The fake Cook joined
the Army February 14, 1944 in Ohio (Pg 4) and claims
that he then went to Normandy in time for the
invasion on June 6, 1944. The only problem with
that is he wasn’t in Company A 506th
Parachute Infantry May 31, 1944 (Pg 6). He would
have been listed between the two men highlighted in
pink.
The real Eugene Cook first
joined the service on December 17, 1940. If you
look at the Payroll Records for May 31, 1944 (Pg 3)
it shows him in Co D of the 502nd.
Please look at the following column Date of
Enlistment (Pg 3). The real Cook had been there for
almost 3 ½ years before Normandy (Pg 1).
Here is a breakdown of a
soldier from the day he joined the Army until the
day he became a paratrooper (Pgs 7-25). There will
always be a cover sheet that matches up with the
documentation when possible.
Robert Nobles joined the Army
October 7, 1942 (Pg 8). Nobles arrived at Camp
Blanding October 20, 1942 (Pg 9) where his basic
training would take place. His basic training
started on November 1, 1942 (Pg 10) and fan through
February 1, 1943 (Pgs 11-20).
Private Nobles and the rest of
the 508th Parachute Infantry then went to
Fort Benning and started parachute training February
8, 1943 (Pg 20) to February 27, 1943 where he
received his Jump Wings (Pg 22).
The last piece of the puzzle
was to leave the States and arrive in Europe.
Private First Class Nobles left New York City, New
York December 28, 1943 (Pg 23) and arrived in Europe
January 8, 1944 (Pg 24).
So here is the breakdown for
the time it takes from start to finish to becoming a
paratrooper.
7 days to get to the camp for
his basic training, then 10 more days until it
started. Then
3 months to the day to finish
basic training. Then 3 more weeks to graduate and
become a paratrooper and then the actual sailing to
Europe that took 10 days. This doesn’t count the
movements between stations either. From Camp
Blanding to Fort Benning then Fort Benning to Camp
Mackall.
All totaled that is 3 months
for basic training, which puts him the middle of
May. Then three weeks to become a paratrooper which
puts him in the second week of June. Then 10 days
to get to Europe. That would put him there at the
end of June 1944. This is if he started his
training the second day he enlisted. That would
usually take between 2-3 weeks. That would put him
there in at the end of July 1944.
What this really means is the
fake Cook from Ohio couldn’t have been in Normandy
in the 506th. The Payroll records for Co A are the first
exhibit showing he wasn’t there on May 31, 1944 for
the Payroll Records and he wasn’t in Morning Reports
for June & July either.
Fake Cook wasn’t in Normandy
with the 506th,
in fact there is no record in any of the General
Orders for the 506th that he was ever in
that Regiment.
Michel De Trez was able to locate
Cooks 53-55
Discharge Paperwork. Cook didn't go
overseas in March of 1944, but 1945. It turns
out he lied for years saying he lost his discharge.
Brian Siddall
March 6, 2017
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