That’s what Cook did. And in the 36 days that followed — five weeks of some of the bloodiest fighting of World War II — Cook and his fellow Marines dodged bullets, slogged through mud, took cover in ditches and overtook key enemy positions in the hills of the remote South Pacific Island.
But not without cost. In all, 6,800 U.S. service members died in the ferocious battle. Every man in his squad except for him, Cook said, was killed. Cook himself was wounded in the back and leg by a grenade and evacuated to a hospital ship.
Cook died Feb. 28 of natural causes at his home in Brentwood. He was 92 and among the last survivors of the Iwo Jima battlefield.
A native of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Cook enlisted in the Marines in 1944 while still in high school and trained on a mortar crew. After the war, he joined the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the first of many veterans groups. Cook led an annual commemoration of the battle for many years, first at the Golden Gate National Cemetery, and then at the Marines Memorial Club in San Francisco. He returned to Iwo Jima three times, for reunions.
After the war, Cook graduated from Washington State University and went on to a four-decade career as a newspaperman in Washington State and as a public relations officer for the Atomic Energy Commission, where he assisted reporters covering nuclear weapons tests in the Nevada desert. In later years, he was a U.S. Army Reserve public information officer at the Presidio in San Francisco.
Cook was a Sierra hiker, a Boy Scout troop leader and a devoted raiser of English bulldogs, the Marines’ mascot. He enjoyed showing the dogs in local shows and acting as a dog show judge. His home was a Marine Corps museum stuffed with books, maps, artifacts, photos and awards.
And he never tired of sharing the story of Iwo Jima with family and friends. Recounting vivid memories up until his passing.
He is preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Mary, who passed in September of 2018. His father, John Lester Cook, his mother, Ruth Deloise Burke; brothers, Danny, Ernest, Jerry; and sisters, Georgia and Norma.
He is survived by brother, Ken Cook; sisters, Ruthie Simons, Jewell Wooldridge, Kay Vancleave, and Kathy Cook. Daughters Debra Kobold and Marie Wynn, sons Dale Jr. and Jim. Seven grandchildren, four step-grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and numerous others whom he welcomed into his family.
His vibrant presence will be missed by many.
A special thank you to Steve Rubenstein, of the San Francisco Chronicle, for this remarkable depiction of Dale J. Cook’s legacy.
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