Nicholas Scott Cook
Army PFC
From: Hungry Horse, Flathead County
Date of Death: 3/7/2010
Conflict: Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan
Pfc. Nicholas S. Cook, 19, of Hungry Horse, Mont., died March 7 in Konar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Camp Ederle, Italy. Pfc. Nicholas Scott Cook, U.S. Army, died in Dab Sar, Konar Province, Afghanistan. Nick joined the Army in April of 2009, completing his Basic Training and Jump School in Fort Benning, Ga. He was a proud member of “The Rock” 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry, Task Force Mountain Warrior, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Fort Ederly, Vicenza, Italy.
You have left us way too soon but you are soaring above as only you could. Nick was born in Fresno, Calif., on Oct. 5, 1990 the son of Jeffery and Charlotte Cook. He joined his brother Christopher and sister Melody. He was raised in Hungry Horse by his grandparents Chuck and Kathy Taylor, attended Canyon Elementary, Columbia Falls Junior High and graduated from Columbia Falls High School in 2008. Nick was an athlete from a very early age: he played T-ball & baseball. He started wrestling at age six with Columbia Falls Little Guy Wrestling, continuing until he was too old for Little Guy Wrestling. He played one year of flag football with Kalispell Parks and Recreation, then he went on to Little Guy Football, playing until junior high. He played for Columbia Falls Jr. High. He also played for Columbia Falls High School until he sustained an injury.
Nick loved the snow and had no desire to live where he could not snowboard. He lived and breathed snowboarding, and even took trips to Austria and the Alps to be able to ‘shred” while he was stationed in Italy. As a child he enjoyed playing with and showing his goats at the Flathead County fair. He won several times in the pack goats division and also the harness goats competition. This was something that he enjoyed doing with his grandfather. Nick was a typical boy growing up: he got himself into his fair share of trouble and he got himself out of trouble. He had a passion for shoes and he could talk his grandmother into paying twice the amount for a pair than she had intended. He was an expert at wrapping his grandma around his finger. The biggest thing he finagled out of her was her car. He had too many friends to name them all but once a person was Nick’s friend, that person was his friend for life. Nick had known many of his friends since preschool. Nick, we love you and will see you in heaven, our sweet young man.
