Each year, an FSU ROTC cadet can apply for the Captain Cody A. Khork scholarship, which will cover any costs not covered by a military stipend.<\/p>\n
LAKELAND, Fla. \u2014 Inside a small chapel on the campus of Florida Southern College, a building that represents the legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright\u2019s lasting impact on the school, Army Military Police Captain Cody A. Khork\u2019s father and stepmother announced a new, endowed scholarship in his name, adding to an outpouring of love and admiration that\u2019s making Khork quickly as synonymous as the famous architect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re deeply grateful to Florida Southern College for helping ensure Cody\u2019s legacy will live through the next generation of leaders,\u201d Stacey Khork said.<\/p>\n
Capt. Khork, 35 and from Polk County, was one of six servicemembers killed when an Iranian drone hit an U.S Army building in Kuwait soon after the conflict in the Middle East began. His family says Khork found a second home at the idyllic campus of FSC and its R.O.T.C. program.<\/p>\n
The school says the \u201cCaptain Cody A. Khork Scholarship\u201d will go to a junior or senior cadet and pay for everything the military doesn’t, like room and board, said FSC president Dr. Jeremy Martin.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a father, there is no greater heartbreak than losing a son,\u201d James Khork, Cody’s father, said. \u201cWith that said, there is also deep pride knowing who Cody was, how he lived, and what he stood for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graduating in 2014, Khork was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Army and served tours previously in Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Poland, where his parents say he met a fellow servicemember, fell in love and had plans to propose when he came back from tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were very thankful for him meeting the love of his life,\u201d Mrs. Khork said, adding she was supposed to be with him at that Kuwaiti port where he was killed, but was reassigned to Jordan at the last minute. \u201cOur family firmly believes that God allowed us to keep that piece of our son so that we could still have that with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abbas \u201cA.J.\u201d Jaffer says was one of Khork\u2019s closest friends and said the connection was instant when he met him more than 15 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe met through the fraternity and through R.O.T.C., and we just clicked from day one, and we’ve just been best friends ever since,\u201d he said. \u201cHe doesn’t care what you look like, what you do, where you come from, he just kind of accepts you for just who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two remained friends and roommates after school, even when Khork would leave on tour. Almost immediately after hearing about his best friend\u2019s death, he started brainstorming with their friend group and FSC to honor his legacy of leadership and kindness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were thinking of things that we wanted to do to honor him, the first thing we could think of that could last forever, just like him giving to everyone, was a scholarship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But while those who love Khork mention his devotion to them, he was also devoted to his country as a patriot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was someone who wore a red, white, and blue flag bow tie to any event [and] dressed up as Uncle Sam for Halloween,\u201d she said. \u201cSo it was always red, white, and blue.\u201d<\/p>\n