Cooke enlisted in the Navy's Aviation Cadet Training Program located on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus in 1943.

Cooke was stunned that one of the first recruits he met upon his arrival in the dormitory was Ted Williams, the American League batting champion.

During the war, Cooke participated in the Iwo Jima where his ship was attacked for more than three hours by Kamikaze, and then several months later in the Battle of Okinawa.

[2][3] Leveraging the fitness conditioning training he received in the Navy, after the war Cooke became the athletic trainer for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1946.

Cooke was a coach through June 30, 1952, including service on the 1950 "Whiz Kids" team, that won the National League pennant.