ON HIS WAY HOME in
September 1943, Cook sketched
military personnel aboard the B-24
Liberator bomber transporting him,
including a dozing crewman from
the 69th Bomb Squadron (left).
HIS FINISHED PAINTING
(above) is called The Ship-Bomber’s
Homecoming. The three-day trip
included stops in Fiji, Kanton Island,
Hawaii, and San Francisco; Cook’s
writings describe the men huddling
together with one another to keep
warm in the cold sky.
OCTOBER 2019 63
“Don’t worry
about my wanting
excitement when
I return. I just want
to curl up and take
it easy for a while.”