Brian Cody Prosser - Staff Sergeant, United States Army

Brother’s sacrifice is reason to engage

History is changed by the people who show up. It was changed horribly by the 19 terrorist hijackers who showed up on the morning of September 11, 2001.

And it was changed nobly when Brian “Cody” Prosser showed up on November 16, 2001, in Tarin Kot, Afghanistan.

The Ventura County resident and Army Staff Sergeant was there to help villagers who had rebelled against their Taliban oppressors.

Prosser and these hearty souls had a common foe in that repressive regime that had harbored the al-Qaida terrorists who murdered more than 3,000 people in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

On that day almost three years ago, 500 Taliban fighters headed to Tarin Kot to crush the villagers’ proud burst of self-determination.

From a ridge above the town, Prosser and his Special Forces comrades called an airstrike on the Taliban convoy before it could reach Tarin Kot.

The Taliban fighters who survived scattered. And the villagers were free

Three weeks later, Prosser showed up again — for the last time. He and two comrades would die when a misfired U.S. bomb exploded 100 yards from their position near Kandahar.

Eulogized as the “best of the best,” 28-year-old Cody Prosser was laid to rest a dozen days later in Arlington National Cemetery.

“Children are able to laugh, play and sing because of what they did,” said Lieutenant Colonel Frank Hudson, Deputy Commander of the Army’s 5th Special Forces Group.

“They changed lives for the better and freed them from oppression,” Hudson said.

Life as Prosser’s younger brother Jarudd knew it changed that day, as well.

“I don’t wish what happened to my family on anybody, but it does give you perspective on sacrifice,” Jarudd told me earlier this week.

Now 25 years old and living in the family home, he often visits his big brother’s West Coast memorial on the Hill of Valor in a Bakersfield cemetery.

After Cody died, everyone in the family placed a memento in the memorial niche. Jarudd pitched in a treasured baseball. It commemorated a game in Cody’s senior year in high school when his shoulder popped out of alignment. Their dad jammed it back into its socket between innings.

Despite the pain, Cody hit a homer his next time at bat.

Jarudd reminds himself of that on the days when his spirits sink. Cody didn’t quit and neither will he, said Jarudd, who plans to attend Sonoma State next year to earn a degree in physical education. He wants to be a high school coach, although he fears there aren’t many kids left as tough as Cody.

Jarudd harbors no ill feelings about his brother’s dying in a so-called friendly fire accident.

“I try to take the positive out of it. For me, that means being a better American,” he said.

Jarudd professes pride in knowing the seed of democracy Cody planted with service and irrigated with his blood came to fruition last month.

On Oct. 8, more than 8 million Afghan people showed up to vote in that country’s first free election in 40 years.

Voters stood in the snow for hours before the polls opened. Near Kandahar — not far from where Cody gave his life — the line to vote stretched a mile and a half.

They waited despite the fact only four months earlier gunmen had slaughtered 16 people working to register voters. They lined up despite the fact that three weeks earlier, suspected Taliban sympathizers had tried to shoot down a U.S. helicopter carrying Afghan presidential candidate Hamid Karzai.

When Jarudd thinks back to the U.S. presidential election of 2000, he realizes how much his world has changed.

“I didn’t take the time to study the issues then,” he said. Instead, he relied on his father’s judgment and voted exactly as he did.

This year he made his own choices.

His dad, Brian Prosser Sr., died in September of last year. On the outside, Jarudd said, the family patriarch dealt with Cody’s death, but inside it took its toll.

Jarudd not only has made up his mind on how to mark his ballot, he also already has voted absentee.

And let me tell you this: Jarudd and I spoke for a good long time. Not once did he tell me who he voted for. And not once did he tell me who I should vote for.

So go ahead and risk changing history today — if not for yourself, then for Jarudd Prosser. Show up gratefully and vote.

Monday December 17, 2001
Killed Soldier Buried at Arlington

Staff Sergeant Brian “Cody” Prosser, one of three Army Green Berets killed by an errant U.S. bomb in Afghanistan was remembered Monday as “the best of the best” who gave his life doing what he loved – serving his country.

“Cody is a hero and I will love and miss him for the rest of my life,” said his widow, Shawna, after his burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Prosser, 28, from Frazier Park, California, was killed December 5 when a U.S. bomb carrying 2,000 pounds of explosives missed its target and landed 100 yards from his team’s position north of Kandahar.

Master Segeant Jefferson Donald Davis, 39, of Watauga, Tennessee, and Sergeant First Class Daniel Petithory of Cheshire, Massachusetts, also were killed. Twenty U.S. troops were injured.

Three of Prosser’s colleagues who were hurt in the incident attended Monday’s ceremony in wheelchairs, wrapped in blankets to shield them from the cold and wind. The Pentagon, under construction following the terrorist attacks in September, loomed in the background.

During the ceremony, Prosser’s widow, mother and father were presented American flags and a bugler played “Taps.”

“Cody was the best of the best,” his widow said after the ceremony. “I know that he would want me to say thank you to this great country that he was so willing and honored to serve.”

She recalled the last conversation with her husband before he left for the Middle East.

“He told me that he wasn’t scared, that he was ready, and over there was where he needed to be,” she said. “I am so proud of my husband because he was doing what he loved to do.”

Mrs. Prosser described the “overwhelming pain” she has felt since her husband’s death and told reporters she had not wanted to share her grief with anyone but family and close friends.

“As each day has passed, I have seen so much generosity and kindness from so many people across our great country,” she said.

Prosser, who was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals posthumously, also was honored at a ceremony last week at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Green Beret Casualty Remembered
Thousands Expected At California Funeral For Cody Prosser
December 13, 2001

As many as 2,000 people are expected at the funeral in Bakersfield, California, Thursday for Army Green Beret Cody Prosser.

He and two other special forces soldiers were killed in Afghanistan last week when their position was accidentally bombed. After the funeral, Prosser’s body will be flown to Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington for burial.

Staff Sergeant Brian Cody Prosser, 28, of Frazier Park, California;Master Sergeant Jefferson “Donnie” Davis, 39, of Watauga, Tennessee; and Sergeant First Class Daniel Petithory, 32, of Cheshire, Massachusetts, were remembered in a memorial Monday at their base, Fort Campbell in Kentucky.

Each soldier was hailed as a hero for his part in helping to free an oppressed country.

“Children are able to laugh, play and sing because of what they did,” said Lieutenant Colonel Frank Hudson, deputy commander of the Army’s 5th Special Forces Group.

“They changed lives for the better and freed them from oppression,” Hudson said of the soldiers’ work in Afghanistan. “What more of a legacy could anyone hope to have?”

Prosser’s father Brian — a retired firefighter — will deliver the eulogy. He says his son was the “kind of guy people don’t forget.” He says the funeral is about more than his son. He says, “This is about our country.”

The dead soldiers were members of the 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell, 50 miles north of Nashville, Tennessee. Twenty other American servicemen were wounded when a U.S. bomb missed its target Wednesday. Five Afghan fighters also were killed in the explosion.

Prosser was described as a soldier dedicated to perfection — one who never believed he would not become a member of the elite special forces and so intent on having the right tool for home improvement projects that the workers at Home Depot knew him.

Kern soldier to be buried in Arlington Cemetery
Friday December 7, 2001

Family members of a Frazier Park, California, soldier killed in Afghanistan this week have secured permission to bury him at Arlington National Cemetery as they’d hoped, they and a military official said Friday.

When Brian Cody Prosser will be interred at the Washington D.C.-area cemetery was still undecided.

Neither had his family scheduled a local memorial service for Prosser. The family hopes to have Prosser’s body flown here for the remembrance, which probably will be held next week and is being handled by Hillcrest Memorial Park and Mortuary.

Prosser, a 28-year-old staff sergeant in the Army’s Special Forces, was one of three soldiers killed by an errant U.S. bomb. The blast also injured 16 soldiers.

But first, Frazier Park residents will pay tribute to Prosser at today’s 11 a.m. town Christmas Parade on Mount Pinos Way, including remarks from Representative Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield.

Community member Bob Anderson on Friday requested Edwards Air Force Base officials to authorize a fly-by over the parade and for the White House to have President Bush either broadcast remarks to the parade or send a letter to the community.

He did not know by late afternoon whether either would occur.

The parade will feature a 21-gun salute and Army honor guard, he said.

“We look at this more as a celebration than as a grieving,” Anderson said. “We want to honor Brian.”

Though Anderson doesn’t know the Prossers well, he said the grace family members showed talking to the media about their lost loved one inspired him to help organize a tribute.

“They were nothing short of outstanding,” he said.

Other memorials are planned.

On Monday morning, at least 400 people are expected to pack a chapel at Fort Campbell, Ky., where Prosser’s unit was based, to remember Prosser and two others killed with him, said Maj. Robert Gowan.

The service, designed to be a final farewell from the three men’s unit, will feature prayers, eulogies, a final roll call and 21-gun salute, Gowan said.

The three were members of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group.

Gowan confirmed that if Prosser’s family wanted to bury him at Arlington it could.

December 7, 2001

Slain Soldier Is Remembered by His Tightknit Community
ragedy: Friends and neighbors visit the family home of Brian Cody Prosser, killed in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan. Others sign an American flag.

From morning to evening on Thursday, friends and neighbors stopped by the family home of Frazier Park’s fallen son, Brian Cody Prosser. Some left baskets of flowers.

Up Lakewood Mountain Road, others paused at a convenience store to sign an American flag that will be presented to the family.

“God bless you for your sacrifice. America is worth it,” read one message. A day after learning that Prosser was one of three U.S. Special Forces soldiers killed in Afghanistan, the tightknit community of 2,300 seemed to draw on its collective strength to make sense of the tragedy.

“You think that you live in a Podunk town where nothing happens,” said Shelly Mason, Prosser’s former English teacher at El Tejon School, where she is now principal.

“But Cody is proof that great things can come from everything we do.”

El Tejon students raise the American flag on the first Friday of the month, but today’s ceremony will take on an greater significance because of the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and Prosser’s death, Mason said.

“There is a lot of concern for the well-being of the Prossers and for anyone who has children serving in the military anywhere in the world,” she added.

Prosser, 28, was killed Wednesday in a friendly fire incident. An American bomb had missed its Taliban target and landed about 100 yards from U.S. forces.

A staff sergeant and 10-year Army veteran, Prosser was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, based in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky.

“It was what he wanted,” said Bob Franklin, ownerof the convenience store.

“He was a real patriot. When he was in the 10th grade, he told me that he was going to be a Green Beret someday.”

Other messages left on the flag, which Franklin kept folded behind the counter, included: “It is an honor to have known Cody,” “Cody made us all proud,” and “Cody will not be forgotten.”

Prosser was in middle school when the family–parents, Brian and Juliana, and brothers, Jarudd, Mike and Reed–moved to Frazier Park, near the Ventura-Kern county line. Prosser also is survived by his wife, Shawna.

“He was a tremendous kid and always had his stuff together,” said Chuck Howell, a football coach at Maricopa High School, where Prosser was team captain. “If you stepped on the field, you better buckle it up if you wanted to hit him.”

The family remained in seclusion Thursday, although Prosser’s father spoke briefly to reporters gathered on his driveway.

“I just want to say we are extremely proud of him,” he said. “He is a hero in our house, and I hope in your house, too.”

Of the circumstances surrounding his son’s death, the father said: “There is no such thing in this house as friendly fire. Fire is fire. Those guys were there to do a mission.”

Fallen soldier on way home
Thursday December 06, 2001

The body of a Special Forces soldier from Frazier Park killed this week by “friendly fire” in Afghanistan was flown to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany Thursday, and is expected home soon.

His family hopes to bring Staff Sergeant Brian Cody Prosser, 28, to Frazier Park for services not yet scheduled and then bury him at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, D.C.

Prosser was honored for his service Thursday with a Bronze Star, said his father, Brian Prosser.

Meanwhile, other loved ones expressed pride in the former Maricopa High School football star, including his wife, Shawna, a schoolteacher in Clarksville, Tennessee.

“Although I am deeply saddened and will always miss him, I find some comfort knowing that he died doing what he loved — being part of the Special Forces,” she said at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where her husband was stationed.

The Green Beret was one of three soldiers killed when a bomb missed its Taliban target and landed about 100 yards from them. Twenty others were wounded in the worst friendly fire accident of the war.

Master Sergeant Jefferson Donald Davis, 39, of Watauga, Tennessee, and Sergeant First Class Daniel Petithory, 32, of Cheshire, Massachusetts, were the others killed.

All were members of the Army’s 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, based at Fort Campbell.

One of Prosser’s varsity football coaches at Maricopa High School, Chuck Howell, described the slain soldier as a “warrior.”

“He was a tremendous player,” Howell said of Prosser, a linebacker and fullback who often played with an injured, taped shoulder. “He never missed. He played hurt. He was a true warrior.”

Howell recalled a time Maricopa was, finally, playing competitively against Templeton High School, in part because Prosser carried the ball 15 straight times.

“He gave everything he had every down,” Howell said.

At basic training in Fort McClellan, Ala., Prosser was an impressive M-16 shooter well-liked by the drill sergeants, said Steve Paquette, whose bunk was next to Prosser’s.

The two later were military policemen together, the last time in mid- to late-1992 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

“He loved the Army, I’ll tell you,” said Paquette, who lives in Columbus, Georgia., and is a policeman in Phenix City, Alabama. “He emphasized being all you can be and he was good at whatever he did.”

Prosser also had a fascination with the Middle East, friends said.

Family friend Dennis Penna often talked with Prosser about his tour of duty as a U.S. military adviser in Iran in the 1970s.

“When he found out I served in Iran, (that’s) all he wanted to talk about,” Penna said. “It seemed like he wanted to save the Middle East.”

Jessica Quintana, 27, recalled riding the bus to high school with Prosser.

“He used to hang out with all the jocks in the back,” she said. “They would raise a lot of hell for the bus driver, stuff like flicking pennies from the back to the front and making noise the bus driver couldn’t find.”

Cheri Sutherland often drove the bus.

“I would have to stop and scold him, and he would just take it,” she said. “He knew he would do it again, but it was never vindictive.”

Classmates, in fact, voted Prosser “Most Spirited” and say he was a class clown.

“He was well-liked. And he earned it,” said Ken Swope, one of the 40 students in Prosser’s graduating class. “He worked hard to win and put forth 110 percent in everything he did.

“When we won, he shouted the loudest and when we lost he took it the hardest,” Swope said.

Another Maricopa High School football coach and teacher, Albert Allen, said Prosser often sported a flattop haircut and talked incessantly about joining the Army after high school.

It wasn’t surprising Prosser ended up overseas, Allen said.

“I know he was out there doing what he wanted to do, and that is to serve his country,” he said.

On the war on terrorism, Allen said, “Now that we’ve lost one of ours, it hurts. However, our commitment to this needs to remain intact.

December 6, 2001
Pentagon Investigates Friendly Fire

The United States has sent reinforcements into Afghanistan to replace the men killed and wounded in the deadliest “friendly fire” incident of the Afghan war, Pentagon officials said Thursday.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon briefing that he has ordered an investigation into the mistaken bombing Wednesday that killed three Army Green Berets soldiers and wounded 20 other Americans.

An Air Force B-52 dropped a one-ton bomb near the soldiers after they had called in an airstrike against Taliban forces near Kandahar.

Six anti-Taliban Afghan fighters also were killed and 18 were wounded.

The sixth anti-Taliban fighter died after being evacuated for medical treatment to the USS Bataan, located in the Arabian Sea, Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said Thursday.

“We are replacing the people who were killed and wounded,” Marine Corps General Peter Pace told reporters at the Pentagon.

Rumsfeld, recalling the December 7 anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the heavy casualty toll, said at a briefing that even more Americans died September 11 “because we were under attack” from terrorists harbored
by the Taliban in Afghanistan. “The improbable can happen, and it has,” he said.

The secretary, interviewed Wednesday on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” called the B-52 accident a terrible tragedy. “Our heart goes out to the families and the friends of those fine people,” he said.

Clarke said she could not confirm reports from Afghanistan that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar was about to surrender in Kandahar.

However, senior Pentagon officials have repeatedly stated that Omar should not be allowed to go free.

Clarke said U.S. warplanes were concentrating Thursday on Taliban cave and tunnel complexes and had flown some 148 sorties inside Afghanistan.

U.S. warplanes also hammered Taliban positions south of where Wednesday’s friendly-fire accident occurred, but opposition forces said that for the first time in weeks no bombing was reported in or immediately around Kandahar, near the site of the deadly mishap.

Pentagon officials declined to comment on any change of bombing plans for the area, but noted that Wednesday’s accident left fewer special forces in place to direct airstrikes.

The Pentagon identified those killed as Master Sergeant Jefferson Donald Davis, 39, of Watauga, Tennessee; Sergeant First Class Daniel Petithory, 32, of Cheshire, Massachusetts; and Staff Sergeant Brian Cody Prosser, 28, of Frazier Park, California. All were members of the Army’s 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Clarke said the bodies of the U.S. soldiers were being taken to Germany for later transport back to the United States. One of the U.S. wounded was taken to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, while others were either being treated in the region or had been treated and released back to their units in Afghanistan, she said.

The injuries to the Americans “vary from moderate to severe,” a statement from U.S. Central Command said.

Eighteen Afghan anti-Taliban fighters were being treated on U.S. Navy ships in the Arabian Sea, the statement said. Eight were on the USS Peleliu and 10 aboard the USS Bataan.

Pentagon officials said they could not immediately explain what went wrong in the deadliest “friendly fire” accident of the war. Whatever the cause, it illustrated the danger to U.S. forces calling in airstrikes.
“This is one of the potentially most hazardous type of missions that we use as a military tactic,” said Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Hamid Karzai, the southern Pashtun leader and newly designated head of the provisional government in Afghanistan, was in the area where the bomb landed but was not seriously wounded, Pentagon officials said. Karzai said Thursday he received minor injuries of the face and head from flying glass.

“I, along with the rest of America, grieve for the loss of life in Afghanistan,” President Bush said during an Oval
Office appearance. “I want the families to know that they died for a noble and just cause.”

The deaths bring to four the number of Americans killed inside Afghanistan in the two-month war. CIA officer Johnny “Mike” Spann was killed November 25 in a prison uprising while questioning forces captured in the fighting.

Wednesday December 5, 2001

Massachusetts, Tennessee, California Soldiers Killed

The three Green Berets killed in an accident Wednesday in Afghanistan were proud leaders who loved the Army, family members and friends remembered.

Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory, 32, who grew up in western Massachusetts, “always wanted to be an Army man,” said his brother, Michael. “He was born to do it.”

The communications specialist, who had also served in the Gulf War, proudly wore his Green Beret uniform when he made trips home to Cheshire, a town of 3,600 in the Berkshire Mountains near the Vermont border.

He was single and had no children, his brother said.

“He died doing a job he loved, for the country he loved,” said his sister Nicole, 20.

Petithory, Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser and Master Sgt. Jefferson Donald Davis died after a U.S. bomb missed its Taliban target north of Kandahar. All were members of the Army’s 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Nineteen other U.S. soldiers were wounded in the accident. Five Afghan fighters also were killed and an undetermined number were wounded.

Prosser, 28, one of four brothers, lived in Frazier Park, a mountain town about 50 miles outside Los Angeles. He was a natural leader and top athlete who had been captain of the Maricopa High School football team, his brother said.

“He was a leader, a warrior and proud to be a soldier,” said his 22-year-old brother, Jarudd. “He’s my role model.”

Jarudd Prosser said the family knew the risk Brian Prosser, who was married, was taking in Afghanistan, adding that he made sure he “left nothing unsaid” when his brother was about to leave.

“In a war, people die. It puts a lot of things in perspective,” Jarudd Prosser said. “It really makes me think when you care about someone, you have to tell them that.”

Davis, 39, made a career in the military. He had a wife and two children, who live in Clarksville, Tennessee, just outside Fort Campbell. His parents live in Watauga.

At the Davis home, less than two miles from the Army installation, dozens of people dropped by to pay their condolences – including members of the family’s church who arrived in a van. They declined to speak to reporters.

His family was proud of his service, cousin Penny McCracken told the Johnson City (Tenn.) Press.

“He was always a good guy,” she said.

Senator Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Davis died serving his country and as a hero.

“My thoughts and prayers go out to the Davis family and friends during this difficult time,” Frist said in a statement. “I hope his family will find comfort in knowing that Donny died a hero and that his death is grieved by all Americans. He gave the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy and that is something that wont be forgotten by our nation.”

Thursday December 6, 2001

Families, Friends Remember US Soldiers

One seemed destined to become a military hero. One “was born” to fight in the Army. Another was “a good guy” with a wife and two kids.

The three Green Berets who died in Afghanistan after a U.S. bomb missed its target are being hailed as heroes – dedicated servicemen who lost their lives doing the jobs they loved.

To friends who knew Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser when he starred on the high school football team and worked at the local lumberyard, it seemed all but inevitable that he would go on to good things in the military.

“When he went into the Army that was his dream, to become an Army Ranger,” Glenn Wilson, a former football buddy, recalled.

Prosser, 28, of Frazier Park, Calif., Master Sgt. Jefferson Donald Davis, 39, of Watauga, Tenn., and Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory, 32, of Cheshire, Mass., died Wednesday after a U.S. bomb missed its Taliban target north of Kandahar. All were members of the Army’s 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Twenty other U.S. soldiers were wounded in the accident. Five Afghan fighters also were killed.

The death of Prosser left his small town in the mountains of Los Padres National Forest devastated but at the same time bursting with pride to have known a man considered a hero.

“He was a leader, a warrior and proud to be a soldier,” Prosser’s 22-year-old brother, Jarudd Prosser, said. “He’s my role model.”

Prosser lived in nearby Bakersfield with his wife, Shawna. But the family home for years has been located in Frazier Park, a bucolic mountain town with an old-fashioned Main Street that appears still anchored in 1950s America. It’s a popular day-trip destination with Los Angeles residents 50 miles away.
“This whole community is affected. The Prosser name is pretty renowned here,” said Carla Johnston, who said she has known Prosser all his life and whose husband, Joshua, attended Maricopa High School with him.

Petithory grew up in western Massachusetts and always wanted to be an Army man,” said his brother, Michael. “He was born to do it.”

He was single and had no children, his brother said.

“He died doing a job he loved, for the country he loved,” said his sister Nicole, 20.

Davis, 39, made a career in the military. He had a wife and two children, who live in Clarksville, Tenn., just outside Fort Campbell.

His family was proud of his service, cousin Penny McCracken told the Johnson City (Tenn.) Press.

He was always a good guy,” she said.

As friends dropped by to offer condolences to the Prosser’s mother and father in California, Ventura County sheriff’s deputies quickly blocked off access to outsiders to the family’s rambling, ranch-style home, which is situated a half mile off the nearest road. Outside is a large sign – put up in happier times – that welcomes visitors to “Prosser Country.”

Jarudd Prosser said the family knew the risks involved, adding that as soon he learned his brother was shipping out he made it a point to tell him how he felt about him.

“In a war, people die,” he said Wednesday. “It puts a lot of things in perspective. It really makes me think when you care about someone, you have to tell them that. When I heard he was going overseas, I left nothing unsaid.”

Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser is shown in a wedding
photograph taken on August 1, 1998.

Sergeant Brian Cody Prosser is shown in a wedding
photograph taken on Aug. 1, 1998.

A flag hangs at half staff on the porch of the family home of U.S. Special Forces
Group Staff Sergeant Brian Cody Prosser in Lake of the Woods, Calif., Thursday,
December 6, 2001.

The family of Army Special Forces Staff Sergeant Brian Cody Prosser wave from the
porch of their home at a friend who arrived in a helicopter to give them a bouquet of
flowers in Lake of the Woods, California, Thursday, December 6, 2001.

The remains of Sergeant Brian Cody Prosser
Arrive At Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany,
On Their Way Back To The United States

Shawna Prosser, right, holding her father Russ Campbell’s arm, and Army Special
Forces soldiers watch as the casket of Prosser’s husband Staff Sgt. Brian Prosser
is unloaded from a hearse during funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery
in Arlington, Va. Monday, Dec. 17, 2001.

Unidentified injured Army Special Forces soldiers, right, watch a funeral service
for Staff Sergeant Brian Prosser of Bakersfield, Calif., Monday, December 17, 2001 at
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. The men were injured, while Prosser and two other
Army Special Forces soldiers were killed December 5 when an American bomb missed
its target and landed 100 yards from them in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Twenty U.S. soldiers were injured in the incident.

Shawna Prosser and her father Russ Campbell take part in a
funeral service for her husband Staff Sgt. Brain Prosser,
Monday, Dec. 17, 2001 at Arlington National Cemetery in
Arlington, Va

Shawna Prosser looks over casket of her husband, Staff Sgt. Brian Prosser, during
funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Monday, Dec. 17, 2001.

Jared Prosser, brother of Staff Sgt. Brian Prosser, right, holds onto the casket of
his brother as he grieves during funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery
in Arlington, Va. Monday, Dec. 17, 2001.

PROSSER, BRIAN CODY
SSG US ARMY
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 07/09/1991 – 12/05/2001
DATE OF BIRTH: 07/17/1973
DATE OF DEATH: 12/05/2001
DATE OF INTERMENT: 12/17/2001
BURIED AT: SECTION 64 SITE 7186

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Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard

Brian Cody Prosser – Staff Sergeant, United States Army

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