“He is a hero…I love that the Army gave him a chance to do what he loves to do,” said the mother of Cody Khork who died on the second day of the US-Iran war.
According to NBC News, Khork, 35, was one of 13 Americans killed in the US war with Iran which began on February 28 this year. He died on March 1 — the second day of the war — when a drone struck a port in Kuwait, the report added.
Khork died as a captain in the Army Reserve and was posthumously promoted to major, the report added.
“He was a hero. I’m so proud of him…,” she told NBC News in her interview.
His mother told the media house the Army was a natural fit for Khork. His father was a Marine, and he grew up on military bases. He loved the military life from “Day One,” his mother Donna Burhans said.
Growing up, Khork’s nickname was “Twig.”
“He’s always been around the uniformed people, so he just loved it from an early age,” Donna Burhans recalled said of the military. “I love that the Army gave him a chance to do what he loves to do,” she told the NBC news.
Faith on Trump
Burhans said she relies on her faith and on US President Donald Trump’s judgment.
“Trump knows what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing, and he’s doing everything the way it’s supposed to be done,” she told NBC. “I have my trust in him and God,” she said.
The report further stated that she had a chance to speak to Trump last month at what’s called a dignified transfer ceremony in Dover, Delaware.
Khork’s remains and those of the five other service members who died in Kuwait were flown home and removed from the plane in flag-draped containers.
When Burhans told Trump to ‘finish it’
At Dover, Burhans told Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that she didn’t want her son to die needlessly and that she hoped they would continue prosecuting the war.
“You could tell when he walked into the room that he was distraught,” she said of Trump. “He had his head down. And he was just a normal, caring person. He wasn’t the president when he walked into the room. He was just there to tell us how sorry he was.”
“I wanted him to know that I do not blame him. I do not blame anything that’s happened for my son’s death,” she said in the interview.
She credited Trump for taking military action against an enemy of the US that has been a global menace for decades.
“It’s a long time coming,” she said. “It should have been done a long time ago, and Trump is the only one man enough to stand up and do it. They hate America,” she reportedly said.
“I told him to finish it,” she added. “I said, ‘Go get ’em.’ This is what my son signed up for.”
In a telephone interview with NBC News on Thursday, Trump spoke briefly about the families of fallen service members. “I feel so badly for those people,” he said.
US-Iran war latest:
The US and Iran delegation are set to hold peace talks in Pakistan on Saturday, reports claimed.
US Vice President JD Vance said Friday he hoped for a “positive” outcome as he departed Washington for US-Iran peace talks being held in Pakistan.
“We’re going to try to have a positive negotiation,” he told reporters before take-off from Joint Base Andrews.
“If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend the open hand. If they’re going to try to play us, then they’re going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive,” he said.
A senior Iranian lawmaker was quoted by Iran International as saying that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei set a condition that parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf must lead negotiations with the US.
Mahmoud Nabavian, Deputy Parliament Speaker, said on Friday: “Our conditions were conveyed to the Pakistani side… and they said Trump accepted them,” adding that a ceasefire and talks were decided by Iran’s leadership.
Meanwhile, Pakistan extended visa-free travel to delegates and journalists from participating nations of Islamabad Talks 2026, i.e., Iran and the USA. A Pakistan official clarified that this facility, extended for the duration of the talks, does not cover third-country nationals.
Besides, US President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the two-week ceasefire over Iran’s continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, while Kuwait accused Iran and its proxies of launching drone attacks despite the ceasefire, the Associated Press reported.
