Iran just killed a Florida son who spent 17 years saying yes every time America asked.
Captain Cody Khork of Winter Haven answered that call four times – Saudi Arabia, Guantanamo Bay, Poland, Kuwait – and on March 1, an Iranian drone ended it all.
Now Polk County is lowering its flags and the rest of Florida should know exactly who they lost.
How Cody Khork Went from Lake Region High School to the Iran War
Khork didn't wait to be drafted – he enlisted in the Army National Guard in 2009 right out of Lake Region High School in Winter Haven.
He put himself through Florida Southern College's ROTC program, earned a degree in political science, and commissioned as a Military Police officer in the Army Reserve in 2014.
Over a 17-year career, he earned more than a dozen medals and awards, including the Meritorious Service Medal and the Army Commendation Medal.
His family said he loved history and took great pride in serving something greater than himself.
His best friend and best man, Abbas Jaffer, posted on Facebook the day after the strike: "My best friend, best man, and brother gave his life defending our country overseas."
Jaffer said they'd been friends for more than 16 years.
"He's helped me get through the hardest and lowest parts of my life and been there to celebrate the best," Jaffer wrote.
That's who Iran killed on Sunday.
The Iranian Drone Strike That Killed Six Americans at Port Shuaiba Kuwait
On March 1 – just one day after the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury – an Iranian drone hit a tactical operations center at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, killing six American service members.
The building was a triple-wide trailer surrounded by concrete barriers designed to stop car bombs, not airborne strikes.
Three U.S. military officials told CBS News there was no American counter-drone system at the port.
"We basically had no drone defeat capability," one official said.
https://twitter.com/PolkCoSheriff/status/2029273447839273382?s=20
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the military had set up "maximum possible defense and maximum possible force protection" before operations began.
The families now living with that gap may see it differently.
Nicole Amor, 39, of Minnesota, had been moved off-base into a shipping container building just one week before the strike – dispersed to smaller groups because commanders feared the main base was a target.
Her husband Joey told the Associated Press she was days away from returning home to their two children.
"She just never responded in the morning," he said.
Declan Coady was 20 years old, studying cybersecurity at Drake University online while deployed in Kuwait, with his sights set on becoming a commissioned officer.
His father learned just days before the strike that Coady had been recommended for a promotion from specialist to sergeant.
He received it posthumously.
Why Iran Targeted a Logistics Base in Kuwait During Operation Epic Fury
Operation Epic Fury launched February 28 with U.S. and Israeli forces executing more than 900 strikes against Iranian targets in the first 12 hours alone.
Khamenei was killed.
Iran's naval headquarters were destroyed.
Iran's missile sites, IRGC leadership compounds, and nuclear infrastructure were hit in the most significant American military action in the Middle East since the Iraq War.
https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/2029194261204185533?s=20
Iran knew it couldn't match that firepower.
So it hit a logistics hub at a civilian port in Kuwait, staffed by Army Reserve soldiers whose job was keeping American troops supplied with food, fuel, water, and ammunition.
This was not a military miscalculation – it was a deliberate choice to kill Americans doing supply work far from the front lines.
Iran wanted to prove it could reach our people anywhere in the region.
Capt. Khork, Sgt. 1st Class Tietjens, Sgt. 1st Class Amor, and Sgt. Coady paid the price for that message.
President Trump didn't sugarcoat what's ahead: "Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That's the way it is."
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis mourned the loss of Captain Khork.
“First Lady @Casey DeSantis and I are saddened to learn that Army Captain Cody Khork, from Polk County, has been killed in the line of duty as part of Operation Epic Fury,” he wrote on X. “We extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and his fellow soldiers.”
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2029258888575381897?s=20
These soldiers understood the cost – Khork had deployed to four countries over 17 years because he knew exactly what he'd signed up for.
His family said he lived with purpose, loved deeply, and served honorably.
His legacy, they said, will endure in the lives he touched, the example he set, and the love of country and family that defined him.
That's the man Iran killed on Sunday.
Sources:
- U.S. Army Reserve Command, "Army Reserve Soldiers Identified," March 3, 2026.
- Gov. Ron DeSantis, statement via X, March 4, 2026.
- Lt. Gen. Robert Harter, Army Reserve Command statement, March 3, 2026.
- Polk County Public Schools, "PCPS Mourns Capt. Cody Khork," March 4, 2026.
- Fox 13 Tampa Bay, "Polk County Loss: Local Army Reserve Soldier Killed in Kuwait Strike," March 4, 2026.
- CBS News, "Military questioned use of makeshift office space in Kuwait where U.S. troops were killed," March 3, 2026.
- Associated Press, "Soldiers who died in the Iran war, including Cody Khork, remembered for service and devotion," March 4, 2026.
