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Personal info

Full name
COOK, Jack
Date of birth
1925
Age
unknown
Place of birth
New York
Hometown
Queens, Queens County, New York

Military service

Service number
42006641
Rank
Private First Class
Function
unknown
Unit
F Company,
2nd Battalion,
513th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
17th Airborne Division
Awards
Silver Star,
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Died of Wounds
Date of death
6 April 1945
Place of death
Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Plot Row Grave
F 21 20

Immediate family

Members
Ernest R. Cook (father)

More information

Pfc Jack Cook enlisted in Newark, New Jersey on 28 July 1943.
His enlistment records mention that he was born in 1925 (so he would be 18), but in fact he was only 14 years old at enlistment.

He participated in the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945 and Operation Varsity.

He was reported wounded in action on 30 March 1945. He died on 6 April 1945 at the age of 16. He is the youngest soldier buried at Margraten.
He was awarded the Silver Star Medal posthumously for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, "The Skymen" by Kirk B. Ross, http://www.ww2-airborne.us/, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record

Photo source: Sjef Houben, www.findagrave.com