While attending Bishop Neumann High School, Cohen worked at St. Mary's Church on 4th Street, where he had been an altar boy for years. Immediately after his graduation in 1967, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. The private first class, a rifleman, was shipped to Vietnam in December 1967 and joined Cornpany F of Battalion Landing Team 2, 4th Marines, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade. Cohen died in Quang Tri Province on May 2, 1968. He was 18 years old. Survivors included his mother.