William “Cozy” Cole

William H. “Cozy” Cole, “expert at the ivory keys,” looked “more the part of a pigskin star than a pianist, and when he was in college, he was both,” the Cloudbuster repoorted in 1942. He graduated in from Hampton Institute in 1931, where he lettered in football, basketball, and track and played trombone in the ROTC band. He then taught music and business administration in high schools at Norton, Va., for three years before moving to Durham where he taught music and was babd director at Hillside High School prior to enlisting in the Navy.

With the rest of B-1, he was sent to Manana Barracks at Pearl Harbor in May 1944 , where he served until after the war. On Victory Day in Hawai’i, Stafford Evans illustrated for the base newspaper a part of the festivities with a cartoon sketch: “KING COLE and the BAND took over the show as the men of Manana spirits were HIGH.” 

“Leaders of the Band.” Cloudbuster. 1 Apr. 1944: 1.

“Victory Day.” Pearl City, HA. The Mananan. 1.5 24 Aug. 1945: 5.