Colonel Harvey “Hank” Cook

Colonel Harvey “Hank” Cook was commissioned as a second lieutenant in October 1941 after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Michigan State College, where he also played varsity baseball. He was a graduate of Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania.

His early assignments included duty at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, where he taught hand-to-hand combat. He was later recruited by the 2nd Ranger Battalion as an intelligence officer. On D-Day, 6 June 1944, then-Captain Cook participated in the assault on Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, France. He later served in combat operations in the Battle of the Bulge and the Hürtgen Forest.

Following World War II, Colonel Cook attended the Army’s Advanced Infantry School and the Army Language School, where he studied Japanese. He deployed to Korea with the 24th Infantry Division during the Korean War. After recovering from a combat injury, he was reassigned to the Intelligence Directorate at U.S. Army Headquarters in Heidelberg and later in Stuttgart, Germany.

Colonel Cook held multiple strategic assignments including service on the Army General Staff at the Pentagon and command of an air defense artillery battalion responsible for defending the national capital region. In 1961, he was assigned to the Intelligence Division at NATO Headquarters in Fontainebleau, France. Upon return to the U.S., he led the National Agency Check Center at Fort Holabird, Maryland.

In 1967, Colonel Cook deployed to Vietnam as Chief of Military Intelligence, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). His final assignments included service on the Pacific Army General Staff at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and later duty at Valley Forge Military Hospital, Pennsylvania. He retired in 1972 after more than 32 years of active-duty service.

His awards and decorations include the Silver Star, Bronze Star with two oak leaf clusters, the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster, and multiple campaign and service medals.

In recognition of the great credit his exemplary service, superior leadership, and dedication to duty has brought to Michigan State University and the United States Army, Colonel Harvey “Hank” Cook is inducted into the MSU Army ROTC Hall of Fame, this twenty-third day of October two thousand twenty five, in the one hundred twenty-fifth year of Military Science at MSU.