Date: 1/15/2012
Rank: Lance Corporal
Branch: U.S. Marine
Operation: Operation Enduring Freedom
Lance Corporal Kenneth Eldren Cochran of Wilder, Ida., died in support of combat operations in Habib, Afghanistan on Jan. 15, 2012. LCpl. Cochran was assigned to the 9th ESB 2D MLG US Marine Corps. Kenneth Cochran was born in Riverside, Calif., on July 12, 1991, to George N. Cochran III (Caribou, Maine) and Julia (Howell) Cochran (Wilder, Ida.).
Kenneth was a graduate of Parma High School, Class of 2010. While in school he was very active in the COSSA auto program, winning numerous awards. While in school, Kenneth won 1st place in the district’s Patriot’s Pen Contest. He placed 2nd in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Regional Competition.
Kenneth was outgoing and enthusiastic. A genuinely nice young man, who didn’t know a stranger. He was well liked and admired by fellow students and his co-workers in the Corps. He was always the first to work and the last to leave.
Kenneth lived each day to the best of his ability, sharing his advanced skill set to benefit friends and co-workers.
While in Afghanistan he was fortunate to have served some of his tour in a camp close to his older sister, Joyce, who is also serving in the theatre.
LCpl. Kenneth Eldren Cochran is survived by his father and mother, former Marine, George Cochran and US Army CPT, Julia Cochran (Wilder); sister, US Army Combat Medic Specialist Joyce Cochran (assigned Bastion Hospital, Afghanistan); brother, George (Geo) Cochran (Wilder); sister, Michael Katherine Cochran (Boise); grandparents, Mark Eldren Howell and Joyce A. Howell (Wilder), and Donna M. Cochran (Orlando, Fla.); uncles and aunts, Phillip and Karen Coonts (Stanley, Ida.), Jim and Laurea Howell (Wilder), Kenneth C. Howell and Bernadine Marconi (Boise), Paul and Martha Gamble (Peoria, Ill.), Matthew and Dawn Howell (Kuna, Ida.), Mitchell (Mitch) and Becci Cochran (St. Petersburg, Fla.), and Roxanne Cochran (Orlando, Fla.), as well as numerous cousins and dear friends.