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Medal of Honor recipient Marine COL Donald G. Cook
Episode 2823 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature Marine COL Donald G. Cook and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. Information featured in this episode appeared on the Marine University website and the Medal of Honor Monday Program of the Department of Defense website.
According to the Marine University website, Colonel Donald Gilbert Cook, was born 9 August 1934, in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Xavier High School in June 1952, then attended St. Michael’s College in Winooski, Vermont, where he graduated in 1956.
Cood attended the Officers Candidate School at Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, Virginia, and was commissioned a second lieutenant, 1 April 1957. He was promoted to first lieutenant 1 October 1958 while stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. In 1960 he attended Army Language School in Monterey, California, studying Chinese and graduated near the top of his class. 1stLt Cook was assigned to Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, in 1961 and was promoted to captain 1 March 1962.
In December 1964, he was sent to Vietnam where he was captured by the Viet Cong on 31 December 1964 while serving as an advisor with a Vietnamese Marine battalion.
During nearly three years of captivity, Cook took responsibility for the men around him, despite the harsher treatment brought upon him. He shared his food and small amounts of medicine with other prisoners and took care of them when they were struggling, despite his own deteriorating health due to exposure, deprivation, malnutrition and disease. Even then, Cook refused to stray from the U.S. Military Code of Conduct, despite enemy efforts to break his spirit.
Cook’s resolve in the face of certain death earned him the deepest respect of the POWs around him, as well as that of his captors. His loyalty and adherence to American values went well beyond what was expected of him, and they inspired his fellow POWs to endure and survive.
Listen to episode 2823 and discover more about Marine COL Donald G. Cook and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.
