Jason C. Cook
 |
| Age: |
|
25 |
| Hometown: |
Okanogan, WA |
| Date of Death: |
8/21/2004 |
| Incident Location: |
Anbar province, Iraq |
| Branch of Military: |
|
Marines |
| Rank: |
Sgt. |
| Unit: |
1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division |
| Unit's Base: |
Camp Pendleton, Calif. |
|
The guys who rode with Jason Cook in Iraq knew his wife's name. They couldn't miss it. He named their armored vehicle after her. Cook met his wife, Yovana, at a party while he was assigned to guard the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia. They were married for two years, but spent only eight months of that time together because of his military assignments. So Cook found an ingenious way to honor her. As the officer in charge of his squad's armored vehicle, Cook named it after her, relatives said. "The relationship we had was almost perfect," Yovana said. Cook, 25, of Okanogan, Wash., died Aug. 21 during fighting in Anbar province. He was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Cook joined the Marines in October 1997, a few months after graduating from high school. He was in his second deployment to Iraq. "There just wasn't anything Jason wouldn't do for you. He was right there for you," said his stepfather, Del Miles.