Cordelia E. Cook

Cordelia E. Cook
First Lieutenant Cordelia Cook 1945
Born March 17, 1919
Fort Thomas, Kentucky
Died June 19, 1996(1996-06-19) (aged 77)
Upper Arlington, Ohio
Resting place Evergreen Cemetery, Southgate, Campbell County, Kentucky, US
Residence Columbus, Ohio
Occupation registered nurse
Cook tending a wounded serviceman in 1943, showing her shrapnel wound, for which she received a Purple Heart award

Cordelia Elizabeth "Betty" Cook (March 17, 1919 – June 19, 1996) was an American combat nurse in the United States Army Nurse Corps during World War II. She was the first woman in the U.S. Army to receive both the Bronze Star Medal award and the Purple Heart.

Early life

Cook was born in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, on March 17, 1919.[1] She obtained her primary schooling in Fort Thomas. She went by the name "Betty".[2]

Military duty

Cook attended the Christ Hospital School of Nursing in Cincinnati, Ohio, for 3 years and graduated in 1940.[2] She became a surgical nurse with the rank of first lieutenant in the United States Army Nurse Corps.[3] Cook was sent to Europe during World War II. The field hospital in Italy she was working at was bombed in 1943.[4] In spite of the dangers, she continued her nursing duties into January 1944 at the 11th Field Hospital in the Presenzano sector at the Italian front.[5] She received a Bronze Star Medal award for her service, being the first woman to receive the award.[6][7] Cook sustained a shrapnel wound from German artillery fire while carrying out her duties.[1][4] Because of this she received the Purple Heart award, becoming the first woman to receive both the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart awards.[4][6][8][9]

Personal life

Cook married Harold E. Fillmore, a U.S. Army captain.[10] The Fillmores had a daughter, Sara, and two sons, David and William.[11] After the war, she worked as a registered nurse at Doctors Hospital North in Columbus, Ohio, for 28 years. She was a member of the Crestview Presbyterian Church in West Chester, Ohio, near Cincinnati.[11] Cook died in Upper Arlington, Ohio, on June 19, 1996, at 77 years of age.[11]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Commire & Klezmer 2007, p. 429.
  2. 1 2 Frank 2013, p. 161.
  3. ↑ Read & Witlieb 1992, p. 101.
  4. 1 2 3 Baron 1998, p. 68.
  5. ↑ Loomis 1958, p. 75.
  6. 1 2 Kane 1964, p. 358.
  7. ↑ "World War II Honoree". National World War II Memorial. American Battle Monuments Commission; National Archives and Records Administration. 2003. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  8. ↑ Robinson 1946, p. 352.
  9. ↑ Jackson 2006, p. 58.
  10. ↑ Note: The married name she used for documents and legal use was Cordelia Elizabeth Fillmore or Cordelia E. Fillmore.
  11. 1 2 3 Columbus Dispatch newspaper (Columbus, Ohio) - Thursday, June 20, 1996 - obituary, p. 7F

Bibliography

  • Baron, Scott (1998). They Also Served: Military Biographies of Uncommon Americans. Military Information Enterprises. ISBN 978-1-877639-37-1.
  • Commire, Anne; Klezmer, Deborah (2007). Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. Yorkin Publications.
  • Frank, Lisa Tendrich (2013). An Encyclopedia of American Women at War. ABC-CLIO. p. 161. ISBN 978-1-59884-444-3.
  • Jackson, Kathi (2006). They Called Them Angels: American Military Nurses of World War II. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-7627-3.
  • Kane, Joseph Nathan (1964). Famous first facts: a record of first happenings, discoveries and inventions in the United States. H. W. Wilson.
  • Loomis, William Raymond (1958). Fighting firsts. Vantage Press.
  • Read, Phyllis J.; Witlieb, Bernard L. (1992). The Book of Women's Firsts: Breakthrough Achievements of Almost 1,000 American Women. Random House Information Group. ISBN 978-0-679-40975-5.
  • Robinson, Victor (1946). White caps: the story of nursing ... Lippincott.
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