Longtime soldier, ‘true leader’ loved Washington state

MATT MISTEREK; The News Tribune
Last updated: September 8th, 2007 01:22 AM (PDT)

The Pennsylvania native also had a soft spot for his adopted home state, with its distinct four seasons, and for fun cover bands at Tacoma’s Swiss Tavern, his wife said Friday. And he got to enjoy them, having spent 10 straight years at Fort Lewis – an unusually long stretch in the Army.

“My husband loved Washington, and that’s kind of why he stayed,” said Michelle Cooper, who met him three years ago and married him in April 2005.

David Cooper Jr., 36, died Wednesday of a noncombat injury in Baghdad, the Department of Defense reported Friday. The Army said it was investigating the circumstances.

He was assigned to the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, the Stryker unit that is one-third of the way into a scheduled 15-month deployment to Iraq.

His death brings to 21 the number of soldiers from the brigade killed since it left Fort Lewis in April.

Its sister brigade, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, is packing up and returning to Fort Lewis after its own extended combat tour.

Cooper leaves behind twin 16-year-old sons, Gage and Drake, in central Pennsylvania, from his first marriage. He visited them at least once a year at his parents’ blueberry farm in Rauchtown, according to the Centre Daily Times.

“You wouldn’t have known that they didn’t see each other very often,” his former wife, Tracy Cornwell, told the Times. “He was a very good dad.”

David Cooper Sr. recalled that his son and his grandsons would hole up in the basement “dungeon,” laughing and playing with their computers, video games and a wide-screen TV.

“They’d stay there all day long,” Cooper told the hometown newspaper. “They’d come up for a meal, then disappear down there.”

Michelle Cooper described her husband as “a true leader of men and was deeply respected by his men and his peers. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body.”

She was preparing to see him in six weeks when he came home on leave.

“He was the love of my life, my soul mate, my best friend, my confidante,” she said. “His death will leave a hole in many, many lives.”

Cooper had been part of the brigade’s 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment since January – the latest chapter in his decade of service at Fort Lewis.

He was assigned to the post in February 1997 and served with the 1st Battalion, 33rd Armor Regiment as a tank crewman; with the 2nd Battalion, 358th Armor Regiment as an observer-controller/trainer; and with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment as a platoon sergeant.

His widow said he was happy when the cavalry regiment converted to a Stryker brigade, with its signature 20-ton armored troop carriers.

“He said that was the closest he could get to being back on a tank,” Michelle Cooper said.

According to unit records, Cooper first joined the military in 1988.

The Sugar Valley High School graduate reported for his current term of active Army service in 1994 and spent time in Korea, at Fort Drum, N.Y., and at Fort Knox, Ky., before coming to Fort Lewis.

He is the 174th soldier from the post to die in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere in operations following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Cooper’s only sibling, Germany-based Army Staff Sgt. Mike Cooper, will escort the body of his older brother to Arlington National Cemetery for a Sept. 17 burial, according to the Centre Daily Times.

A memorial service at Fort Lewis has not yet been set.

Matt Misterek: 253-597-8472

matt.misterek@thenewstribune.com

Originally published: September 8th, 2007 01:22 AM (PDT)