HENRY COOK
Nyack High School
Class of 1948
Before he gave his life in service to his country, Henry W. Cook Jr. starred for Nyack High School as a quarter- miler extraordinaire and long jump quantum leaper. A four-time Rockland County champion, Henry earned one of the first medals in New York State competition by a Rockland athlete when he placed third in the long jump at the 1948 NYSPHSAA meet.
Perhaps no performance better captures the durability of Henry’s athletic brilliance than his epochal gold- medal performance in the long jump at the Rockland County championships on May 30, 1948. Using his sprinter’s speed and powerful thrust, Henry flew down the runway at Haverstraw’s Markham Field, sprang up and touched down in the sand pit 22 feet 6 ¼ inches later. While not a County record – fellow Nyacker and Hall of Famer Bob White had set the standard at 22-9 just a year earlier – Henry’s mark remained on the Rockland all-time top 10 list for 63 years, finally departing that elite listing in 2011. That’s durability!
Henry also cut an imposing figure on the cinder ovals of Rockland and Section 9. After setting a County record in the 440-yard dash of 53.0 en route to victory at the 1948 County meet – the same outing as his soaring long jump – Henry claimed the Section 9 Class AA 440-yard title with a 52.8, a clocking that was not surpassed until 1950 when fellow 2022 Hall of Famer David Lake of Spring Valley clocked 52.4. Henry also won the long jump at the Section 9 meet for another sweep of his flagship events.
Henry was one of the premier athletes for his class at Nyack High School, earning varsity letters in track, football, boxing and wrestling. In his high school yearbook he expressed his ambition to be a professional boxer, but that dream was deferred when he enlisted in the Army with hopes of earning benefits from the G.I. Bill that would enable him to pay for college.
That goal was never realized. PFC Henry Cook was assigned to the 24th Infantry Regiment, a segregated unit, and sent to Japan, where he was placed in Company C. After North Korea’s breaching of the 38th Parallel into South Korean territory, Henry’s regiment, which was attached to the 25th Infantry Division of the U.S. Eighth Army, was one of the first units assigned to Korea after the invasion. Henry was wounded on July 30, 1950 during fighting for Battle Mountain, but returned to action on August 29. However, he was severely wounded in early September as the 24th Regiment fought in the mountains south of Haman. He was swiftly evacuated to a hospital in Japan, but died from his injuries on September 6, at the age of 20.
Henry Cook was buried with military honors at Mount Moor Cemetery in West Nyack, a burial ground for African-Americans, many of them war veterans. The cemetery is surrounded by property owned by the Palisades Mall, which was completed in 1998.
According to an account by James F. Leiner in the Nyack Villager several years ago, Henry Cook is the only Nyack man listed as killed in action in the Korean War. The Rockland County Journal, precursor to The Journal-News, reported that Henry was the first soldier from Rockland County to die in the war.
We honor the memory of a soldier, son, brother, patriot, and shining exemplar from Nyack and Rockland County -– Mr. Henry William Cook, Jr.
Perhaps no performance better captures the durability of Henry’s athletic brilliance than his epochal gold- medal performance in the long jump at the Rockland County championships on May 30, 1948. Using his sprinter’s speed and powerful thrust, Henry flew down the runway at Haverstraw’s Markham Field, sprang up and touched down in the sand pit 22 feet 6 ¼ inches later. While not a County record – fellow Nyacker and Hall of Famer Bob White had set the standard at 22-9 just a year earlier – Henry’s mark remained on the Rockland all-time top 10 list for 63 years, finally departing that elite listing in 2011. That’s durability!
Henry also cut an imposing figure on the cinder ovals of Rockland and Section 9. After setting a County record in the 440-yard dash of 53.0 en route to victory at the 1948 County meet – the same outing as his soaring long jump – Henry claimed the Section 9 Class AA 440-yard title with a 52.8, a clocking that was not surpassed until 1950 when fellow 2022 Hall of Famer David Lake of Spring Valley clocked 52.4. Henry also won the long jump at the Section 9 meet for another sweep of his flagship events.
Henry was one of the premier athletes for his class at Nyack High School, earning varsity letters in track, football, boxing and wrestling. In his high school yearbook he expressed his ambition to be a professional boxer, but that dream was deferred when he enlisted in the Army with hopes of earning benefits from the G.I. Bill that would enable him to pay for college.
That goal was never realized. PFC Henry Cook was assigned to the 24th Infantry Regiment, a segregated unit, and sent to Japan, where he was placed in Company C. After North Korea’s breaching of the 38th Parallel into South Korean territory, Henry’s regiment, which was attached to the 25th Infantry Division of the U.S. Eighth Army, was one of the first units assigned to Korea after the invasion. Henry was wounded on July 30, 1950 during fighting for Battle Mountain, but returned to action on August 29. However, he was severely wounded in early September as the 24th Regiment fought in the mountains south of Haman. He was swiftly evacuated to a hospital in Japan, but died from his injuries on September 6, at the age of 20.
Henry Cook was buried with military honors at Mount Moor Cemetery in West Nyack, a burial ground for African-Americans, many of them war veterans. The cemetery is surrounded by property owned by the Palisades Mall, which was completed in 1998.
According to an account by James F. Leiner in the Nyack Villager several years ago, Henry Cook is the only Nyack man listed as killed in action in the Korean War. The Rockland County Journal, precursor to The Journal-News, reported that Henry was the first soldier from Rockland County to die in the war.
We honor the memory of a soldier, son, brother, patriot, and shining exemplar from Nyack and Rockland County -– Mr. Henry William Cook, Jr.