{"id":63460,"date":"2026-03-06T20:01:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T01:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=63460"},"modified":"2026-03-06T20:01:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T01:01:37","slug":"scholarship-created-in-honor-of-polk-county-soldier-killed-in-kuwait-at-florida-southern-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/03\/06\/scholarship-created-in-honor-of-polk-county-soldier-killed-in-kuwait-at-florida-southern-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Scholarship created in honor of Polk County soldier killed in Kuwait at Florida Southern College"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Captain Cody A. Khork<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Captain Cody A. Khork<\/strong>, a 35-year-old Lakeland native and graduate of Florida Southern College (FSC)<\/strong>, who was tragically killed in a drone attack in Kuwait<\/strong> on March 1, 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capt. Khork was an alumnus of Florida Southern\u2019s ROTC program and a decorated officer in the U.S. Army Reserve. While the specific name of a newly established scholarship has not yet been formally codified in public college directories (as the event occurred very recently), FSC officials and former mentors have confirmed plans to honor his legacy on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Details About Capt. Cody Khork<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Background:<\/strong> A graduate of Florida Southern College with a degree in political science.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Military Career:<\/strong> He began as an enlisted soldier in the National Guard in 2009 and later commissioned as a Military Police officer through FSC’s ROTC program in 2014.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The Incident:<\/strong> He was one of six service members killed during a drone strike at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, while supporting Operation Epic Fury.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Honors:<\/strong> He was a highly respected leader; in 2025, the unit he led (the 317th Military Police Battalion) received the Maj. Gen. Harry H. Bandholtz Award<\/strong>, the highest honor for an Army Reserve MP unit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Memorial and Scholarship Information<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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    Lt. Col. (Ret.) Scott LaRonde<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    In the wake of his death, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Scott LaRonde, who trained Khork at FSC, stated that the college is planning a formal memorial on campus. While a specific endowed scholarship in his name is the traditional way FSC honors such distinguished fallen alumni, you can currently look for updates or ways to contribute through:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. FSC ROTC Department:<\/strong> As an “outstanding” cadet and aide-de-camp during his time there, the ROTC program is the primary point of contact for honors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. FSC Office of Advancement:<\/strong> They manage the creation of memorial scholarships. Given his deep ties to the Lakeland and Winter Haven communities, local veterans’ groups are also expected to support these efforts.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cI\u2019m proud of the man he became,\u201d Army Lt. Colonel (Ret.) Scott LaRonde <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Captain Cody A. Khork, a 35-year-old Lakeland native and graduate of Florida Southern College (FSC), who was tragically killed in a drone attack in Kuwait on March 1, 2026. Capt.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDNcL2Rvd25sb2FkLTYud2VicD9maXQ9MjI1JTJDMjI1JnNzbD0xIiwidHh0IjoiU2Nob2xhcnNoaXAgY3JlYXRlZCBpbiBob25vciBvZiBQb2xrIENvdW50eSBzb2xkaWVyIGtpbGxlZCBpbiBLdXdhaXQgYXQgRmxvcmlkYSBTb3V0aGVybiBDb2xsZWdlIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJoaWdod2F5IiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.ZAR4F24SWsjclLEE5uJeiM8y11BSBlxz_WCYWwk9kY4MQ"},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[13970],"class_list":["post-63460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-scholarship-created-in-honor-of-polk-county-soldier-killed-in-kuwait-at-florida-southern-college"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63460"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63463,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63460\/revisions\/63463"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}