The Wall › Panel 44E › Virginia › Douglas Rudolph Cooke
DOUGLAS RUDOLPH COOKE
Private First Class · U.S. Army
December 18, 1945 – March 16, 1968
Service recordDouglas Rudolph Cooke, of Newport News, Virginia, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 16, 1968, in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 44E, Line 66 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 44E · Line 66
Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.
Remember
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 11 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- December 18, 1945
- Home of record
- Newport News, Virginia (Newport News (City) County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 16, 1968
- Age
- 22
- Province
- Quang Ngai
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
51 names on the Wall carry the date March 16, 1968; three of them were lost in Quảng Ngãi Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 11th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 28 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Ngãi Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 44E, Line 66
- ROBERT LEE BODINEStaff Sergeant · March 16, 1968
- DENNIS ROBERT CARRFirst Lieutenant · March 16, 1968
- GARY ALAN CLIFFORDPrivate First Class · March 16, 1968
- ROY BENJAMIN COCHRANFirst Lieutenant · March 16, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ROY BENJAMIN COCHRANFirst Lieutenant · Panel 44E, Line 66
From Newport News
- ROBERT ALEXANDER WHITESpecialist Four · February 7, 1966
- ROBERT DECKER PERDUEPrivate First Class · February 24, 1966
- JOSEPH LUTHER ROBINSONSpecialist Four · February 24, 1966
- FREDERICK ALBERT SLEMPLieutenant · February 24, 1966
- ROBERT LEE SMITH JRLance Corporal · March 4, 1966
- CLEVELAND VINESCorporal · May 21, 1966
- DONALD ROBERTS ASHBY SRLieutenant Commander · January 19, 1967
- ALEXANDER VIDALESMaster Sergeant · February 22, 1967
- CHARLES EDWARD MURRAYSergeant · March 4, 1967
- JAMES MILES BRANDON JRPrivate First Class · March 17, 1967
Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. This page presents the official record and its historical context; no biography has been written for him yet. See something wrong? Report a correction.