Weir Cook name returns to airport with terminal

INDIANAPOLIS – Descendants of World War I flying ace Harvey Weir Cook celebrated the Veterans Day dedication of a new passenger terminal bearing his name, a belated consolation for the removal of his name from the airport that he helped develop more than 60 years ago.

Indianapolis International Airport, renamed from Weir Cook Airport in 1976, dedicated the $1 billion terminal Tuesday with more than a dozen members of the Cook family and others who sought to restore his name in attendance.

“We all took it hard,” said Harvey Weir Cook III of Columbus, Ohio, who was among the dignitaries who ceremoniously cut a red ribbon to open the new midfield terminal. “It’s a great honor to have my grandfather recalled this way.”

Cook, a native of the Hancock County town of Wilkinson east of Indianapolis, shot down seven German planes as a captain with the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I. He returned to military service in World War II as a lieutenant colonel in 1942 and died in a plane crash the following year in New Caledonia, in the South Pacific.

The development of the new terminal sparked an effort by family members, veterans groups and others to return the Weir Cook name to the entire airport, but a compromise with airport leaders resulting in naming the new structure the Col. H. Weir Cook Terminal Building. The main road serving it is also named after the flying ace.

“The compromise was good,” said Christy Broady, the Wilkinson resident who led the effort, and choosing to dedicate it on Veterans Day was appropriate. “That’s the best. They couldn’t have chosen a better day. We’re recognizing them all, not just Weir Cook.”

The new terminal, which has a new gateway off of Interstate 70 west of Interstate 465 and the old terminal, was to receive its first arriving passengers later Tuesday. The first departures from the new terminal were scheduled for Wednesday.

The new terminal’s baggage claim area features a display honoring Cook, with memorabilia including his medals, a pair of goggles, personal letters, a pilot’s license and other items.

Margaret Locke of Ligonier, a granddaughter of the war hero, said honoring him by naming the new terminal after him was “very special.”

“We’re very glad to see this again,” Locke said. “I’m going to miss the old airport (terminal), though.”