Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

To look up and not down, to look forward and not back, to look out and not in-and to lend a hand. Police officers have to be very aware of their surroundings and the environment around them. You were a very astute officer, Officer Cook and the day you gave your very life on behalf of Dade County citizens you realized all officers can make an impact that goes beyond what is normally expected of them. You showed no fear in lending a hand to help your colleagues and we as citizens can not thank you enough for putting everything on the line. Your courage will forever be appreciated. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 4, 2013

The only reward of virtue is virtue and self-trust is the essence of heroism. You never doubted yourself, Officer Cook and if other problems arose you would be there to back up your fellow officers. I made a slight mathematical error, you saved the lives of seven people, three civilians and four of your fellow officers. You put the community as you always did as your number one priority and for this you are to be forever commended. If all officers could follow your example, we would not have to worry about them. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 4, 2013

Human character evermore publishes itself. The most fugitive deed and word, the mere air of doing a thing, the intimated purpose, expresses character. All police officers are supposed to be considerate while performing their jobs, assigned tasks within the framework of the communities they police. Officer Cook, I'm sure you faced many stressful situations before May 16, 1979, but you were able to overcome obstacles and continue to maintain a balance between fairness and truth in handling the rigors that go along with the territory. Your class and true character you exhibited shines this day and for always for those officers to observe while they faithfully go about their careers. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 4, 2013

Character isn't inherited. One builds it daily by the way one thinks and acts, thought by thought, action by action. If one lets fear or hate or anger take possession of the mind, they become self-forged chains. It is these chains that if they take hold of an officer heaven forbid the wrong way can lead them down a path of destruction. Officer Cook, you lived an honest life full of goodness and so rich in character and this was what made you through proper diligence the terrific officer that you become as a Metro- Dade Police Officer. This defined your status with your family, friends and colleagues. you can rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero and know that your comrades in this world will endeavor to carry on as you so faithfully did during your time.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 4, 2013

Morality is character and conduct such as required by the circle or community in which the man's life happens to be placed. It shows how much good men require of us. It would be diplomatic to say that all officers today exhibit these find attributes. Officer Cook, you displayed these qualities and they are missing in some of our law enforcement personnel. We need upstanding individuals sworn to serve and protect and your grace and humility allowed you to achieve. The force of character is cumulative. All that you succeeded in doing will forever have a long lasting affect. Your pursued justice the honest way and you walked in God's trails in a perfect manner. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 3, 2013

One's outlook is part of his virtue. Happiness is not the end of life: character is. It takes one to know one and for what it is worth, you sure were one of your county's finest officers back in the day, Officer Cook. Always wearing a big smile on your face and willing to lend a hand to all, you are sorely missed this day and everyday. But we can always look back on your life and career and realize that is was truly a very stellar one accentuated with commendations and compliments for a job indeed well done. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 3, 2013

There is so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us. That it ill behooves any of us to find fault with the rest of us. We can't find any faults with a young man such as yourself, Officer Cook, who was so brave and daring to make the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf so we could feel safe and protected. You were a gem of a person and the epitome of a true professional. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. Your attention to detail was one of your many strengths.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 3, 2013

Most new things are not good and die an early death; but those which push themselves forward and by slow degrees force themselves on the attention of mankind are the unconscious productions of human wisdom and must have honest consideration and must not be made the subject of unreasonable prejudice. Your sacrifice, Officer Cook, came at such a young age. You pushed yourself to become the man and police officer who so valiantly served and protected Dade County and its citizens. You were wiser and knowledgeable than most your age and your attention to detail enabled you to solve problems quicker than others. Consideration, honesty, alacrity, unbiasness and the ability to utilize tact were traits that all police officers could certainly incorporate in their daily lives. With officers who go astray, this is sorely lacking, but you my neighbor, friend and hero implemented and it paid dividends to you while making the six years of your service and watch count the most. Rest in peace. No one plans tragedies and you'll always be honored for having honored us with humble and a very supreme and special affection towards everyone who came in professional contact in and out of your department.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 31, 2013

Enjoy the spring of love and youth, to some good angel leave the rest; for time will teach thee soon the truth, there are no birds in last year's nest. Time has taught us a very special and superb lesson regarding courage. The courage you displayed my neighbor, friend and hero, Officer Cook, thirty-four years is something that forty-one other Metro-Dade officers displayed on duty and their lives were truly lived as was yours as heroes. Rest in peace.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 30, 2013

The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think and act anew. I hope present day officers could research your background, Officer Cook and truly find out and learn the lessons of leadership that imparted to your fellow officers back in your day. It's shameful that some officers feel a need to run a muck, astray and throw the book away regarding department rules, regulations and policies. You did things right and so can they. If you made a mistake you were told and shown how to correct the situation. Not everyday is a light duty day with a few calls, sometimes you run into buzzsaws of a day and you attempt to do your utmost to resolve any problems that reside in your community that you serve. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 30, 2013

We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles. a lot has changed since your untimely death, Officer Cook. You would be pleasantly surprised by all of the changes. But as I stated before let us hope these changes are truly for the good of the community and its residents. Officers must adjust to the times that they patrol the streets and you excelled in how you went about your position, in an honest and friendly manner. Always top notch and in a first class mode. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 30, 2013

I know nothing but my country, my whole country and nothing but my country. A public office is a public trust. Your served your country, nation and community as a dedicated police officer. Officer Cook with fierce loyalty. Now you are helping patrol God's streets with twenty-thousand other officers who were not afraid to risk their youthful beings in the pursuits of truth and justice, dignity and integrity personified. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 30, 2013

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear-not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward it is not a compliment to say it is brave: it is merely a loose misapplication of the word. Consider the flea!-incomparably the bravest of all creatures of God, if ignorance of fear were courage. Whether you are asleep or awake he will attack you, caring nothing for the fact that in bulk and strength you are to him as are the massed armies of the earth to a sucking child; he lives both day and night and all days and nights in the very lap of peril and the immediate presence of death and yet is no more afraid than is the man who walks the streets of a city that was threatened by an earthquake ten centuries before. When we speak of certain people as men who didn't know what fear was, we ought to add the flea-and put him at the head of the procession. Everyone displays a certain amount of fear, even police officers, but yet you cannot go out daily with this fear because you would not be able to function in society as you did, Officer Cook, patrolling Dade County streets for six years, handling various calls and assignments with astuteness, bravery, courage, dignity, integrity and honesty. Your final services and funeral procession demonstrated to all of America, Canada and abroad the deep love and respect your fellow officers had for you. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 29, 2013

We cannot afford to accumulate a deficit in the books of human fortitude. We cerainly cannot forget you and your fellow comrades, Officer Cook. I would define true courage to be a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger and a mental willingness to endure it. You endured and hopefully you are resting in peace my neighbor, friend and hero in God's great green pastures where your cherished soul is now and forever free to roam.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 29, 2013

Great men, great nations, have not been boasters and buffoons, but perceivers of the terror of life and have manned themselves to face it Great heroes and heroines such as yourself, Officer Cook, face adversity everyday and look at it directly in the eyes of those who commit such brazenly acts. You worked with grace under pressure and won't be forgotten. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 29, 2013

Heroism feels and never reasons and therefore is always right. It certainly is Officer Cook. No question there. Officers who give up something so important always require eternal recognition for their efforts. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 29, 2013

This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. Because of brave men and women police officers like you, Officer Cook, can this land be truly called a home of the brave. You sure were brave and full of valor personified. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 29, 2013

Courage takes many forms. There is physical courage, there is moral courage. Then there is a still higher type of courage-the courage to brave pain, to live with it, to never let others know of it and to still find joy in life: to wake up in the morning with an enthusiasm for the day ahead. The courage you displayed that day, Officer Cook was a Godsend indeed, to stand in the face of fire and protect your fellow officers, I, meaning your family, friends and colleagues can't say enough. Your fellow officer, Keith DiGenova still suffers the physical and mental effects of being sverely wounded by the young man who took your life. His life each day he wakes up must be a living hell, for what he went through and Officer Edgerton being wounded severely wounded, needing a temporary colostomy to maintain his life, this is very traumatic. They too are surviving heroes. Officer DiGenova and Officer Edgerton were treated in a not so kind a way after they left the department, although, they were able to receive the benefits befitting a police officer. I know It happened a long time ago, but this was a terrible day for your department and fortunately for them they can continue their lives even with difficulties. Your partner that day, Reserve Officer Lincoln we hope and pray is finding contentment with his life. If you were my partner that day, I'd forever be devastated. Just a heinous and cowardly act to rob a young man such as yourself of his innocence and intellect that could have imparted many a fine exmple to all. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 29, 2013

For books are more than books, they are the life, the very heart and core of ages past, the reason why men and women lived, worked and died, the essence and quintessence of their lives. And your life, Officer Cook was proundly writen in the book: "Forgotten Heroes." A book I highly treasured reading and recommending all people to read as it captures the essence of your life and career with the Metro-Dade Police Department and the sacrifice that you made on behalf of the citizens of Dade County as well as that of roughly one-hundred and forty other officers who risked their lives for our protections. You were truly an excellent police officer and it's a shame you are not here with us, though you are in spirit and your vitality will never depart from your loving family's side. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 29, 2013

Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future. You had so much to still offer this society, Officer Cook, and what happened to you thirty-four years ago will never be forgotten. True heroes and heroines like yourself are always going to be remembered with pride and gratitude. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 29, 2013

I died for beauty, but was scarce adjusted in the tomb, when one who died for truth was slain in an adjoining room. he questioned softly why I failed? "For beauty," I replied. "And I for truth,-the two are one; We brethren are," he said. And so, as kinsmen met at night, we talked between the rooms, until the moss had reahed our lips and covered up our names. You gave your sacred life Officer Cook, on May 16, 1979 for truth and justice. It was a hot day that day I believe and the skies were clear as if you were out in nature snapping pictures of God's handiwork. This beauty is the mark God sets upon virtue. Your were a true man of virtue and the ultimate epitome of what an honorable and humble human being is like and you set the bar high for us to take our cues from. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 29, 2013

What is lovely never dies, but passes into other loveliness, star-dust or sea-foam, flower or winged air. You breathed the same air as we all breathe, Officer Cook and now because of your sacrifice we here in this world can continue to explore and dream about how we can continue life's pursuits as you pursued your dreams and aspirations. One day we will all see you and your father in the next world. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 29, 2013

How beautiful is youth! how bright it gleams with its illusions, aspirations, dreams! Book of Beginnings, Story without end, each maid a heroine and each man a friend! And you were a true hero until the end, Officer Cook. You never gave up and fought this battle with evil until your last breath. If only we could have saved you. You placed your being on the line to secure our liberties and once again saved the lives of your comrades and those two civilians in the name of justice for all. Rest in peac emy neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 29, 2013

He who is firmly seated in authority soon learns to think securely and not progress, the highest lesson of statecraft. No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself. Other officers looked up to you Officer Cook, as you were an inspirational mentor to them and a source of freshness and modern thinking. All the partners that you worked with cannot say enough humble things regarding your fine character. You deserve all the salutes for your courage that can be offered. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 29, 2013

Where the people possess no authority, their rights obtain no respect. You were a fine police officer, Officer Cook, who did not let authority pervert your thinking as so often happens with other officers. If you were here today you personally could impart this very important lesson to all newcomers to the department. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 29, 2013