This is a passport photo of my family taken sometime in the first half of 1952. I can put that time frame on it because my baby brother, the bald guy sitting on my mother's lap, was born in November of 1951 and, as you can see, he's not real old in this picture. I'm Alex Cook, the kid with the empire waistline and the nice set of ears. From left to right you can see my sister Pat (1943), me (1949), my mom Estelle (1918), Mike (1951), and my other sister Rosemary (1946). We were on our way to Tokyo, Japan, to meet up with my father. Maj. Griffith Cook was in the process of being redeployed from the war in Korea to Japan to train the "new" Japanese Defense Forces in communications and security procedures that were consistent with U.S. procedures. As far as I was concerned, my father had always been in Korea. My earliest memory of him was a photo on the piano in our living room in Baltimore. My mother passed away 15 years ago. My father missed her terribly and died about 3 years later. Mike was killed by a drunk driver 7 years ago in Sacramento and Pat died of cancer a year ago here in Tucson. Rosemary lives just outside of Montgomery, Alabama, and I'm in Tucson. I like this picture. We all look so serious but I think we had a lot of fun as a family.

submitted by Alex Cook Tucson, Arizona, USA

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