A motorcade carried the remains of U.S. Army Maj. Cody Khork from Lakeland Linder International Airport to Oak Ridge Funeral Home in Winter Haven on Wednesday, March 18.
Khork, a 35-year-old Reserve officer, was killed in Kuwait during the first days of the Iran war. He was granted a posthumous promotion to the rank of major by the secretary of the Army on March 13.
Khork was a Winter Haven native and 2014 graduate of Florida Southern College. The college, joined by Khork’s family and friends, announced an endowed scholarship honoring Khork on March 10.
A charter jet carrying Khork’s casket touched down at the airport around 1 p.m. Wednesday, and the motorcade departed the airport a little before 2 p.m. Hundreds, many on motorcycles, escorted the black hearse carrying Khork’s body and Sprinter van carrying Khork’s family. Nearby roads were lined with residents paying their respects.
“It’s going to be a big escort. This man is a hero, and he died in order that we can live in a free and democratic society,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in an unrelated press conference on Tuesday, March 17.
The funeral procession included members of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Lakeland Police Department, Auburndale Police Department, Polk County Fire Rescue, Winter Haven Fire Department, Patriot Guard Riders, and many others.
“His family’s asked that we escort him past Florida Southern College, where he went to college,” Judd said.
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Near the college, people gathered along Lake Hollingsworth Drive beneath a 30-foot-by-60-foot American flag, hung by Lakeland Electric over the road between Johnson Avenue and South Ingraham Avenue. Five veterans, who work as linemen at Lakeland Electric, helped to suspended the flag between two bucket trucks, said Cathryn Lacy, utilities marketing manager at the utility.
On the Florida Southern College campus, faculty, staff, students, and ROTC cadets lined Ingraham Avenue with American flags to pay their final respects.
Cadets stood at attention to salute as the hearse passed in front of the FSC’s ROTC building.
“From the time he arrives in Polk County on that airplane until the time we take him to Bushnell, Captain Cody will not be by himself. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, there will be a deputy standing guard because it’s the right thing to do. We’re proud of him. We’re proud of all our military personnel that are standing in the gap and doing what this country’s asked of them,” Judd said.
Khork will be buried with military honors on Monday, March 23, at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.
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Anna Toms is a reporter for LkldNow, a nonprofit newsroom providing independent local news for Lakeland. Read at LkldNow.com.
