Parents remember son killed in Iran drone strike as ‘natural-born leader’

The parents of Army Reserve Capt. Cody Khork are remembering their son as a leader with a “giving soul” after he was killed during the Iranian regime’s initial strikes in Operation Epic Fury.

“Cody was larger than life. He had a giving soul and, in my opinion, he was a natural-born leader,” Khork’s father, James Khork, said Monday on “Fox & Friends.”

“I watched people come to him from all walks of life throughout his life when he was playing paintball, ROTC, his high school friends. All the way through college, I met him when he was on deployment when I was overseas, and I watched his Army friends and buddies just gravitate toward him. It was amazing to watch him go from a boy to a captain… in an Army.”

Khork was one of six U.S. service members killed during a retaliatory Iranian drone strike in Kuwait on March 1, one day after joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes set off Operation Epic Fury in the Middle East. The U.S. military said a seventh service member died of injuries from an Iranian attack on troops in Saudi Arabia the same day.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended the dignified transfer of remains for the fallen service members at Dover Air Force Base on Saturday. The president called the event a “very sad day” while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that he was “glad we paid our respects.”

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Khork’s stepmother, Stacey Khork, described the president and first lady as “respectful” as she recounted meeting them during the “emotional” event.

“They were very down-to-earth. They were saddened and genuine. That was very nice,” she said.

Reflecting on the dignified transfer, she described the moment as both painful and proud.

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“I did have someone come up to us and say, ‘I’m sorry. This has to be the worst day of your life.’ And I said, ‘No, that would be a correction. The worst day was when we had two chaplains on our doorstep,'” she said.

“It was very respectful, it was very honorable. We were proud as a family,” she added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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