Marcus Leon Shook was born on July 30, 1920, in Tishomingo County, Mississippi. He was the son of Marcus Loronzo Shook and Sarah Myrtle Clark Shook.

Marcus Leon served in the 568th Bomber Squadron, 390th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Technical Sergeant and Radio Operator on the B-17 #43-38175 “I’ll Be Seeing You” during World War II. He was one of the survivors on September 18, 1944, when his aircraft was shot down by German artillery during a mission in Warsaw, Poland. Shook was shot in both legs while descending in a parachute and was captured by SS troops. He was hospitalized in a POW hospital near the German/Polish border for the duration of the war.

He died of cancer on January 22, 1995, and is now buried in the Belmont City Cemetery, Belmont, Tishomingo County, Mississippi, USA.