Robert Allen Cooke

BornApril 19, 1950
DiedSept. 23, 1969
Service BranchArmy
RankSpecialist 4
Rating or JobRadioman
Unit199th Infantry
CampaignViet Nam
Military Citations 
Honors 
Family 
Notes

Spec. 4 Robert Allen Cooke

April 19, 1950 - Sept. 23, 1969

Durham

Robert Cooke stepped off the airplane in Vietnam on April 19, 1969, his 19th birthday.

Five months later, Cooke’s platoon of the 199th Infantry was on patrol northwest of Saigon when they came under intense enemy fire. The young radioman was killed in the encounter.

Robert Cooke was born in Wickenburg, Arizona, and his family moved two years later to Durham.

He participated in many school sports and played the drums in the Durham High School Band. At age 14, Cooke began working at the Butte Creek Country Club.

After graduating from Durham High in 1968, he hitchhiked across the country, took a ship to England, and eventually ended up in Switzerland.

On his return to the States, he began working as the assistant golf pro at La Cumbre Country Club in Santa Barbara. While there, he received his draft notice, and entered the Army in November 1968.

Chico News & Review, May 26, 1988

 

Sources

National Archives

Chico News & Review

Mementos