By Guy Page

The only United States Marine to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism as a Prisoner of War was a 1956 graduate of St. Michael’s College in Colchester. 

A statue to Col. Donald Cook stands prominently on the SMC campus. It is just one of the many honors, in Vermont and worldwide, honoring the man his fellow prisoners say inspired them to survive and never gave in to his captors.

According to a  U.S. Navy website, Donald Cook grew up in Brooklyn, New York where he excelled at sports and earned the nickname “Bayridge Bomber” for his athletic prowess in football.  Upon graduation from St. Francis Xavier High School, he enrolled at St. Michael’s College where he flourished academically, athletically and socially.  It was there where he met his bride-to-be, Laurette Giroux.  In 1956, Cook graduated, joined the Marine Corps Reserve and married Laurette.

In 1957, Cook completed Officer Candidate School and went on to Communications Officer School.  His effectiveness in various communications roles at Camp Pendleton earned him a regular commission in the Marine Corps.  After attending the Army Intelligence School in Maryland, Cook was assigned as Officer-in-Charge of the 1st Interrogator-Translator Team with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Hawaii. 

It was during this time that Cook became an expert on the affairs of American POWs in Korea, detailed the Communist indoctrination techniques and applied those techniques in realistic training scenarios for Marines. 

In December 1964, Cook was ordered to the Communications Company, Headquarters Battalion, 3rd Marine Division in Saigon, Republic of Vietnam.  On December 31, 1964, Donald Cook volunteered to conduct a search-and-recovery mission for a downed American helicopter pilot and set off with the 4th Vietnamese Marines.  Ambushed on their arrival at the site, Cook was wounded in the leg and captured while attempting to rally his Vietnamese allies.

Incarcerated in a prison camp near the Cambodian border, Cook established himself as the senior American officer in defiance of his captor’s attempts to eliminate all semblances of military rank and structure among prisoners. 

Enduring deprivation, exposure, malnutrition and disease, Cook nonetheless committed himself to providing inspiration for his fellow prisoners to endure and survive.  He shared food, led daily exercises, provided first aid for injured prisoners and distributed what meager quantities of medicine were available.  He often surrendered his own rations and medicine to aid prisoners whose conditions were more desperate than his own.

It was reported in 1973 that Cook had succumbed to malaria on December 8, 1967.  On May 15, 1980, a memorial stone was placed in Arlington National Cemetery and a flag was presented to his wife Laurette.  The following day, Colonel Donald G. Cook was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. 

The United States Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) is named in his honor. The ship’s motto “Faith Without Fear” epitomizes his courage and faith in God and country. 

Cook Hall at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, in Monterey, California, is named after Cook, who graduated from the school’s Chinese Mandarin course in May 1961. Cook Hall was dedicated in late 2014 and is the largest and most modern academic building of the DLIFLC campus.

Cook is honored with a ‘Freedom Tree’ on the Vermont State House lawn.

Colonel Donald G. Cook Chapter 5 Disabled American Veterans (DAV) of Burlington, Vermont is named in his honor. Col. Donald G. Cook Chapter 5 DAV assists veterans in obtaining compensation for their service-connected disabilities, raises funds to support the DAV travel service for disabled veterans to the White River Junction, Vermont Veterans Hospital, and generally serves the needs of disabled Veterans in Burlington and the surrounding areas.

Saint Michael’s College bestows the Colonel Donald G. Cook ’56 Award to alumni for unselfish service to others. It is the College’s most prestigious alumni award.