The Wall › Panel 42E › Georgia › John William Cook JR
JOHN WILLIAM COOK JR
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
January 15, 1949 – February 29, 1968
Service recordJohn William Cook JR, of Atlanta, Georgia, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 29, 1968, in Gia Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 3 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 3
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
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Tubine Engine Drive/Generator Repairer (52F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- ENGINEERING CMD
- Born
- January 15, 1949
- Home of record
- Atlanta, Georgia (Fulton County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 29, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Gia Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Burns/Smoke Inhalation
Context · from the records
What was happening
52 names on the Wall carry the date February 29, 1968; five of them were lost in Gia Dinh Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “ENGINEERING CMD”, his unit in the record, lost 25 of its members that month.
He died in Gia Dinh 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 42E, Line 3
- JOHN W COOKWarrant Officer 1 · February 29, 1968
- RORY A COVINGTONSpecialist Four · February 29, 1968
- GEORGE WESLEY DEJARNETTSpecialist Four · February 29, 1968
- VICTOR DICAVALLUCCISecond Lieutenant · February 29, 1968
From Atlanta
- DAVID NIPPERLance Corporal · November 21, 1964
- JAMES ANTHONY COYAirman First Class · June 11, 1965
- JAMES THARPE BROWN JRPrivate First Class · June 25, 1965
- WESLIE DAVID MEWBORNPetty Officer First Class · September 8, 1964
- DOUGLAS HORACE LEACHSpecialist Four · November 15, 1965
- RONNIE THOMAS MATHISSergeant · November 17, 1965
- GEORGE S MCHELLONSpecialist Four · November 17, 1965
- JAMES CARL WISE JRMajor · December 23, 1965
- CLIFFORD THOMAS JOHNSONPrivate · January 29, 1966
- HARVEY LEWIS BOWEN JRPrivate First Class · February 24, 1966
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.