Forty years ago, the United States was involved in a war in the Southeast Asia country of Vietnam. American involvement in the War was not well supported by the American public, and the people of Cypress wished to demonstrate their support of the people who made up the U. S. Military forces.
An opportunity to show this support came when a new U. S. Navy warship, the USS Cook, arrived at her home port of Long Beach. The ship had recently been built in a Louisiana shipyard and commissioned in a blizzard at the Boston Naval Shipyard. On her 15,000-mile shakedown cruise to Long Beach, she made representational port calls and brief refueling stops at 16 ports in six countries. En route, she had already distinguished herself by stopping to assist the crew of a Brazilian freighter that had caught fire in the Caribbean Sea.
On May 8, 1972, Cypress Mayor Otto Lacayo and the rest of the City Council of Cypress unanimously passed a resolution to adopt the USS Cook with the intention of building goodwill and recognizing the vital role that the Navy has in the defense of this country. Recognizing this honor, the ship’s Commanding Officer, CDR James R. Talbot, presented a painting of the ship by the renowned maritime artist R. G. Smith, to the city. It hung for many years in the community center.
The Chamber of Commerce created a Cook Committee, chaired by Valerie (Mrs. Alden P.) Perry. The ship arrived at Terminal Island to great fanfare. Mayor Otto Lacayo led the welcoming party. The Oxford Junior High Band was on the pier to provide music. Two weeks later, Cypress sponsored a potluck dinner and dancing for the crew at the Los Alamitos Naval Air Station. The dance became part of the first Cypress Community Festival.
The USS Cook (DE 1083) was a Destroyer Escort (later classified as a Frigate), indicating a primary mission of anti-submarine warfare. She was named in honor of LCDR Wilmer Paul Cook, a Naval Academy graduate Navy flyer who lost his life in 1967 when his A-4E Skyhawk, “City of Annapolis” was shot down over North Vietnam. Eventually LCDR Cook’s remains were recovered from Vietnam. In 1989, the ship had the honor of scattering the ashes of Wilmer Cook at sea. She is the only ship in the Navy to bury her own namesake.
The Cook served the Navy for 20 years, the normal lifespan for a ship that must remain strategically competitive in an ever-progressing environment. Throughout this period, the City of Cypress maintained an involvement with the Cook and her crew. The Cook was decommissioned in 1992. She was later modernized and transferred to the Republic of Taiwan Navy for whom she still sails as HAE YANG (FF 936).
Editor’s Note: Next week in the News Enterprise, the story of the USS Cook continues with a recent reunion of some of the 1972 crew members, and a presentation by the current Cypress City Council on their 40th Anniversary.
