(This article was revised to include video.)
LAKELAND — Landon Wheeler, a sophomore at Lakeland High School, is strongly considering a career in the military.
Wheeler, 17, stood beside his mother the afternoon of March 18 as they recognized the supreme sacrifice that military members sometimes make.
Ashley Palange and Landon held small American flags as they joined hundreds of people lining Medulla Road, just outside Lakeland Linder International Airport, and awaited a procession carrying the casket of U.S. Army Maj. Cody Khork.
Khork, a Lakeland resident, was one of four American soldiers killed March 1 in a drone attack on Port Shuaiba in Kuwait. Khork, 35, and the others were U.S. Army reservists assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, based in Des Moines, Iowa.
The soldiers were the first American casualties in Operation Epic Fury, the American and Israeli war against Iran.
Palange and Wheeler represent a family with a deep history of military service, including her grandparents.
“We just wanted to pay our respects because it really does hit close to home, and we really feel for the families and the friends — so young,” Palange said. “And this one wants to join the military. So, of course, we definitely wanted to be out here.”
Local law enforcement and military members arranged a solemn event March 18 at the airport. Under a bracingly blue sky, motorcycle officers from the Lakeland Police Department and other agencies formed a line on the tarmac before the arrival of the plane carrying Khork’s remains.
Full honors at airport
Just after 1 p.m., a jet from Kalitta Charters touched down on the runway and taxied between a pair of airport emergency vehicles firing water cannons. The white jet stopped behind an array of two Lakeland Fire Department trucks with their ladders extended upward to hold a giant American flag aloft.
A group of Army Reserve military police in uniform and wearing white gloves stood at attention as Khork’s casket was delivered from the plane and placed on a trolley, a flag draped atop it. Members of Khork’s family, accompanied by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, then approached the casket, placing hands upon it and bowing their heads.
After the family members departed, an Honor Guard rolled the casket toward a waiting hearse.
Many local officials were on hand for the occasion, including Lakeland city commissioners, Polk County commissioners and at least two legislators, Rep. Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland, and Sen. Colleen Burton, R-Lakeland.
The brigade of law-enforcement motorcycles, with emergency lights flashing, escorted the hearse and a van carrying family members out of the airport. The procession started along a stretch of Medulla Road, which was bordered by parked vehicles and people standing along the road. Many of them clutched miniature American flags.
The hearse was followed by more than 100 motorcyclists, part of Patriot Guard Riders, a nonprofit organization whose bikers accompany processions for fallen military members and first responders.
The convoy headed east on Pipkin Road, beginning a course toward Florida Southern College. Khork graduated in 2014 from Florida Southern, where he studied political science, participated in the ROTC program and joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Khork enlisted in the Army Reserve, becoming a Multiple Launch Rocket System/Fire Direction Specialist in the National Guard. He commissioned as a military police officer in the Army Reserve in 2014 and deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2018, to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2021 and to Poland in 2024, according to a news release from the Department of War, formally called the Department of Defense.
The Army gave Khork a posthumous promotion from captain to major.
Khork’s awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Superior Unit Award, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with 10 Year Device and “M” Device and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.
‘Have to pay our respects’
Kathy Kaaa of Lakeland stood on the east side of Medulla Road, hoisting a pole that held an American flag. Kaaa had brought hundreds of small flags, planting some beside the road and lending some to other spectators to wave.
Kaaa said that her father was in the Army, she has brothers in the Army and Air Force and her son is a Marine.
“I love our military,” Kaaa said, fighting off tears. “It’s very important to respect them, honor them.”
Observing the throng of people awaiting the procession, Kaaa said, “It warms my heart. It establishes that we are a free country, and every person here represents that.”
Theresa Huber, from Hillsborough County, took a break from her work in Lakeland to wait for the procession along Medulla Road. She also described her family’s military connections, including her husband, who retired after 20 years of service.
“I’m seeing patients in Lakeland today, so I felt like I needed to come and pay my respects since I’m over here,” Huber said.
Asked why she wanted to honor Khork, she said, “We have to pay our respects because he did it for us. He did this all for us.”
Huber said she hoped Khork’s family appreciated the large turnout.
“If it gives them any sort of comfort or peace or just something, then we’ve done the right thing,” she said.
The procession would terminate at Oak Ridge Funeral Home in Winter Haven. At a news conference on March 17, Judd said members of his agency would stand guard over Khork’s remains 24 hours a day until his funeral on March 21.
Khork will be buried next week at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Judd said.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Crowds turn out to honor fallen Polk County soldier on trek home
Reporting by Gary White, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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