CLARKSVILLE, Tenn (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Four years ago, local photographer and veteran Phil Cook was told his days rucking were over. Today, he is training to honor his fallen comrades at the Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range.

For those unfamiliar, ‘rucking’ is a common military exercise in which a person marches with a backpack containing a specified amount of weight. The Bataan March features weight categories of 50+ pounds to under 30 pounds.

Cook  served 16 years in the U.S. Army, seven of which were with 2nd Brigade Combat Team ‘STRIKE’ at Fort Campbell. He has seen five deployments in locations including Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea. He was medically retired four years ago after an incident left shrapnel in his lower back. The resultant spinal fusion surgery left Cook with limited movement. Doctors said that, while he would be able to walk again, but would not be able to ruck.

“I was bound and determined to prove my surgeon wrong,” said Cook. “Here I am four years later, and I’m rucking in memory my fallen soldiers that I served with.”

Cook works with the Franklin, Tennessee based nonprofit organization, Memories of Honor, which distributes runners bibs showing the names of fallen service members.

The Bataan Death March is held each year in White Sands Missile Range in memory of the 1942 Bataan Death March, in which approximately 80,000 American and Filipino POW’s were forced to march over 60 miles to Camp O’Donnell, an event resulting in the deaths of over 500 American soldiers.

The Bataan Memorial Death March will be held this year on March 15. Participants will march 26 miles through the dessert. For more info on the March, visit them online.

While training and rucking, Cook carries with him an American flag displaying the names of 12 soldiers from STRIKE that Cook served with. During his last deployment in 2010, STRIKE lost 77 soldiers during deployment and another 8 to suicide after the fact.

“It’s all about remembering the fallen soldiers that I served with. I keep in touch with some of the gold star family members,” said Cook. “Me being able to do the Bataan Death March in memory of their soldiers is very emotional for me and heartwarming for the families to know that their soldiers aren’t being forgotten.”

“Each and every soldier on this flag is a soldier that I knew, and I am proud to say I am doing this in memory of them.”