He had a twin brother, John Thomas, (who served in the Navy during World War II)[6] and a sister, Tennie Mae.

[8] Pool was drafted into the United States Army on June 14, 1941, from Fort Sam Houston in his native Texas[9] and assigned to the new 3rd Armored Division.

He successively commanded three Sherman tanks; an M4A1, and two M4A1(76)Ws, all of which bore the nickname "IN THE MOOD" (they were not suffixed with a letter or Roman numeral).

His second tank, his first M4A1(76)W, lasted from around July 1 to August 17, when he was leading CCA in clearing remaining German forces from the village of Fromental.

His third and last tank, another M4A1(76)W, was destroyed on the night of September 19, 1944, while CCA was attempting to penetrate the Siegfried Line at Münsterbusch, southeast of Aachen, Germany.

[4] After 22 months of rehabilitation and being fitted with a prosthesis, Pool opened a filling station and garage at his home in Sinton, Texas, followed by several other businesses, before he re-enlisted in the Army and went into the Transportation Corps.

According to the U.S. Army, on March 24, 1970, Captain Pool was a team leader in the 5th Special Forces Group, and was being extracted by a Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter from 14 miles inside Ratanakiri province in Cambodia.