I have decided to make a page for Nate since
it was Nate who I first contacted about the ship and the reunion
and who helped to really inspire this project. These are just
some snippets and photos to commemorate a dedicated shipmate.
It’s difficult for me to describe
my “feelings” for the Newcomb. For almost 2 years
she was to be my home. As such she satisfied my love of salt
water and my love of things mechanical. She was to take me to
far places, to put me in harm’s way, and to bring me home.
She was my introduction to adventure, to extreme fear, to the
knowledge of my own mortality, and to a camaraderie that can
only be experienced, not described. We the crew became, over
time, a very tightly-knit group; each dependent upon the others
for all of our needs, indeed, for our very lives.
From Nate's "First Person Account" -domeisland.com
Hi Jason: What a pleasant
surprise to hear from you regarding your Grandfather. Youfound
the right person! I was on the Newcomb for her entire life too,
so I am sure I knew your Grandfather. I remember the name
but cannot recall what he looked like. I have a great deal of
info regarding the 586 that I will be happy to share with you.
But it will have to wait a few days as I am leaving in a few
minutes and won't be back until Friday (CT scans, MD appointments,
etc).
-Nate's response letter to my first email to him, June 2004.
Boston
Globe Obituary
Nathan Cook, guided students as MIT professor, housemaster By
Nicole Haley, Globe Correspondent | July 17, 2005
Nathan H. Cook spent his life trying to help others. The former
engineering professor influenced the lives of countless students
as housemaster of MacGregor House dormitory at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology for 15 years. He and his wife of 58
years, Alice ''Collie" (Collins) Cook, served as a surrogate
family for hundreds of young students.''We weren't there to
take care of the house, we were there to support the students.
It was a wonderful opportunity to do that," his wife said.Dr.
Cook, a war hero who kept in touch with his Navy shipmates into
his final years, died of cancer July 13 at his North Eastham
home. He was 80.When he was 17, Dr. Cook left high school to
join the Navy. He served for 2 1/2 years aboard the USS Newcomb,
a Fletcher-class destroyer that participated in liberating the
Philippines and sinking a Japanese battleship. In April 1945,
the ship was hit by five kamikaze airplanes. Dr. Cook was awarded
the Purple Heart and 10 Bronze Stars.After the war, Dr. Cook
returned to Ridgewood High School in New Jersey and earned his
diploma. He went on to MIT, receiving an undergraduate degree
in mechanical engineering in 1950. He earned a master's degree
and a doctorate, followed by a 33-year career as a professor.
From 1970 to 1985, Dr. Cook lived with his wife and four children
at MIT's MacGregor House as the housemaster.Paul Lagace of Wilmington
was one of many who attended Dr. Cook's weekly homemade dinners
that he and his wife hosted in an effort to create a home away
from home for students. Lagace, an MIT professor of Aeronautics
& Astronautics and Engineering Systems, said he never took
a class with Dr. Cook but that did not prevent him from learning
from the jovial professor.''Nate was a wonderful teacher as
a person. He taught us a lot about living, how to deal with
the world and how to interact with people," Lagace said.Lagace
said he was one of several students who kept in regular contact
with Dr. Cook after graduation.In 1968, the Cook family moved
to India, living there for a year as part of an MIT faculty
exchange with the Birla Institute of Technology and Science
in Pilani, India. Dr. Cook's son Jim, of London, was 15. After
an academic year of teaching, Dr. Cook made stops in Japan and
Hawaii before taking his family home to Boston.''We got a much
broader view of the world," Jim Cook recalled. ''I can't
believe they had the courage to take four kids around the country.
My father always had a very international outlook and he had
friends all around the world."Dr. Cook formed a lasting
bond with the shipmates from his Navy days, family said. Starting
in 1975, about 100 veterans would hold gatherings every year.
Jim Cook said these reunions were a big part of his father's
life after he retired in 1985.
|
