thedrifter
05-02-04, 06:54 AM
Issue Date: May 03, 2004
The Lore of the Corps
Marine POW gave his life for fellow captives
By Keith A. Milks
Special to the Times
On May 16, 1980, during a ceremony in the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon, Laurette A. Cook quietly and finally accepted the fact that her husband was dead.
It had been more than 15 years since Laurette had last seen her husband, Donald. With their four children and her in-laws on hand, she was presented the Medal of Honor that her husband had earned many years earlier in Vietnam.
Donald G. Cook was born Aug. 9, 1934, in Brooklyn, N.Y., and spent most of his formative years there before moving to Vermont, where he graduated from St. Michael’s College in Winooski, in 1956. Shortly after his graduation, Donald and Laurette married and he went off to Officer Candidates School at Quantico, Va.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant in April 1957 and received his first assignment to Camp Pendleton, Calif., where, in 1960, he was selected to study Chinese at the Army Language School in Monterey, Calif. Upon completing his language studies, the Cooks and their young children were transferred to Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.
When then-Captain Cook received orders to Okinawa in 1964, he sent his family back to Vermont to wait out his tour.
But in December 1964, Cook began a 90-day temporary assignment to Vietnam to serve as an adviser to the South Vietnamese Marine Corps.
On Dec. 31, 1964, as most of the world was celebrating New Year’s Eve, Cook accompanied a company of South Vietnamese marines to secure a downed helicopter near Benh Gia village in the Phouc Tuy province. Once there, a numerically superior Viet Cong force surrounded Cook and his South Vietnamese comrades.
Under heavy fire, most of the South Vietnamese troops broke and ran.
As Cook attempted to restore order, he was shot in the leg and the South Vietnamese abandoned him. Captured by the guerrillas, he was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp and held with other American and South Vietnamese prisoners.
Cook immediately assumed the leadership role among his fellow prisoners, even though doing so subjected him to harsh treatment and intense interrogations. Despite his painful leg wound that never fully healed, Cook performed far more than his share of manual labor so that other prisoners could rest and heal themselves.
Although in dire need of medication himself, Cook would dispense his own meager supply of medicine and drugs to other prisoners and tend to their wounds and injuries before taking care of his own. In doing so, Cook resigned himself to degraded health, infections and disease.
Eventually, his self-sacrificing acts, combined with the near-constant maltreatment and torture at the hands of his captors, killed him. After nearly three years of brutal captivity, having given everything of himself for his fellow prisoners, Cook died on Dec. 8, 1967.
Back in the United States, Laurette and her children endured the pain of not knowing their Marine’s fate. Over time, released prisoners returned with stories of Cook’s conduct and bravery during his captivity and, eventually, Laurette learned officially of her husband’s death and his nomination for the Medal of Honor.
But Laurette refused to believe that her husband was dead. She declined to accept the award because doing so would signify acceptance. For years, she fought the Department of Defense on the issue, until she finally accepted the medal from Navy Secretary Edward Hidalgo.
Keith A. Milks is a gunnery sergeant deployed with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Lejeune, N.C.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-2801846.php
Ellie
The Lore of the Corps
Marine POW gave his life for fellow captives
By Keith A. Milks
Special to the Times
On May 16, 1980, during a ceremony in the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon, Laurette A. Cook quietly and finally accepted the fact that her husband was dead.
It had been more than 15 years since Laurette had last seen her husband, Donald. With their four children and her in-laws on hand, she was presented the Medal of Honor that her husband had earned many years earlier in Vietnam.
Donald G. Cook was born Aug. 9, 1934, in Brooklyn, N.Y., and spent most of his formative years there before moving to Vermont, where he graduated from St. Michael’s College in Winooski, in 1956. Shortly after his graduation, Donald and Laurette married and he went off to Officer Candidates School at Quantico, Va.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant in April 1957 and received his first assignment to Camp Pendleton, Calif., where, in 1960, he was selected to study Chinese at the Army Language School in Monterey, Calif. Upon completing his language studies, the Cooks and their young children were transferred to Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.
When then-Captain Cook received orders to Okinawa in 1964, he sent his family back to Vermont to wait out his tour.
But in December 1964, Cook began a 90-day temporary assignment to Vietnam to serve as an adviser to the South Vietnamese Marine Corps.
On Dec. 31, 1964, as most of the world was celebrating New Year’s Eve, Cook accompanied a company of South Vietnamese marines to secure a downed helicopter near Benh Gia village in the Phouc Tuy province. Once there, a numerically superior Viet Cong force surrounded Cook and his South Vietnamese comrades.
Under heavy fire, most of the South Vietnamese troops broke and ran.
As Cook attempted to restore order, he was shot in the leg and the South Vietnamese abandoned him. Captured by the guerrillas, he was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp and held with other American and South Vietnamese prisoners.
Cook immediately assumed the leadership role among his fellow prisoners, even though doing so subjected him to harsh treatment and intense interrogations. Despite his painful leg wound that never fully healed, Cook performed far more than his share of manual labor so that other prisoners could rest and heal themselves.
Although in dire need of medication himself, Cook would dispense his own meager supply of medicine and drugs to other prisoners and tend to their wounds and injuries before taking care of his own. In doing so, Cook resigned himself to degraded health, infections and disease.
Eventually, his self-sacrificing acts, combined with the near-constant maltreatment and torture at the hands of his captors, killed him. After nearly three years of brutal captivity, having given everything of himself for his fellow prisoners, Cook died on Dec. 8, 1967.
Back in the United States, Laurette and her children endured the pain of not knowing their Marine’s fate. Over time, released prisoners returned with stories of Cook’s conduct and bravery during his captivity and, eventually, Laurette learned officially of her husband’s death and his nomination for the Medal of Honor.
But Laurette refused to believe that her husband was dead. She declined to accept the award because doing so would signify acceptance. For years, she fought the Department of Defense on the issue, until she finally accepted the medal from Navy Secretary Edward Hidalgo.
Keith A. Milks is a gunnery sergeant deployed with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Lejeune, N.C.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-2801846.php
Ellie