When James Aubrey Cooper was born on November 19, 1894 in Troup, Smith County, Texas, his father, James, was 41 and his mother, Carrie, was 25. He had four brothers. Cooper, before being commissioned at the first officers training school at Leon Springs, was connected with the First National Bank of Fort Worth. He was a graduate of Texas Christian University where he was prominent in athletics. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a Second Lieutenant in Company B, 3rd Machine Gun Battalion, 1st Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action on July 19, 1918 (at the age of 23) in France and is now buried in Greenwood Memorial Park and Mausoleum, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, USA.