Donald Cook was born in
Brooklyn, New York. He attended
Xavier High School in
New York City and
St. Michael's College in
Vermont. In 1956, Cook enlisted in the Marine Corps as a private but was quickly sent for officer training at the
Officer Candidates School in
Quantico, Virginia. He was commissioned a
second lieutenant in 1957. Three years later, Cook attended Army Language School in
Monterey, California, studying Chinese and graduated near the top of his class. Cook was assigned to Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, in 1961 and was promoted to captain on March 1, 1962. He held a series of assignments in the Marine Corps and was sent to
South Vietnam in late 1964, serving as an advisor to the
Vietnamese Marine Division until he was wounded and captured by the
Viet Cong several weeks later. Cook was held as a
prisoner of war by the Viet Cong from December 31, 1964, until his death from
malaria at age 33 on December 8, 1967, and was buried in the
U Minh forest swamp by his fellow prisoners. Cook's remains have never been recovered from the swamp and are now lost. An official memorial stone (
cenotaph) can be found in
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, Memorial Section MI Lot 110. He was posthumously promoted from
captain to
colonel. On February 26, 1980, Cook was officially declared dead, and the Medal of Honor was presented to his wife by the Secretary of the Navy. ==Decorations==