Eric F. Cooke
When Eric F. Cooke was 17, police arrested him for possession of burglary tools. But by the time he reached his 40s, the military had turned him around.
Cooke, 43, who grew up in the Phoenix area, was killed Dec. 24, 2003, when his convoy vehicle struck a homemade bomb near Samarra.
"The U.S. Army did for that boy what I could not have done for him," said his mother, Georgia Cooke, who lives near Molalla. "They turned him into a man and a man among men, and that is not a mother bragging."
Profile
Name: Eric F. Cooke
Age: 43
Branch: Army
Rank: Command Sergeant Major
Hometown: Scottsdale, Ariz.*
Date of Death: 2003-12-24
Incident: Killed when his convoy vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
Local Connections
*Local connection: Mother lives in Molalla.
Remembrances
jeremy wrote:
We thank your son and people like your son who died for this country. Our thoughts and prayers are with you...
The Nauta Family - Mulino Oregon
Date Posted: June 20, 2007
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Editor's Note:
The Oregonian wanted to offer an opportunity for those who knew the service member or those who wanted to comment on their sacrifice to add to this tribute. As this is a memorial site, we will review all comments for appropriateness before publication.
