I know Jack Kerouac wouldn't mind that I've borrowed his title. His "Visions of Cody" is an homage to Neil Cassidy, who inspired Kerouac and so many of the other writers of the day. Kerouac would no doubt be proud to lend his title to a rememberence of an exceptional young man like Cody Prosser.
Shortly after the invasion of Afghanistan, I read on a news ticker scrolling across the bottom of the television screen the names of the war's first casualties. Brian Cody Prosser, a Green Beret stationed at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, was killed, along with two of his commrades, by a misguided U.S. bomb that landed about 100 yards away from them.
All of the standard accolades applied: He "died for our freedom," he "gave all," he was an "American Hero," but those tributes, while true, are as generic as the flags they use to drape soldier's coffins. They say nothing about the person.
Even the posthumous tributes to Cody fell short, in my opinion. He had indeed been an All-American boy: strong, handsome, a high-school football star known for his tenacity and good nature. The son of a welder, he wanted to be an Army ranger, and he became one. He'd married a beautiful young woman after joining the Army and his future looked bright, dazzling.
These things are all true, but my own vision of Cody Prosser is the result of unique circumstances and offers a perspective that was missing from the posthumous tributes. Most people remember him on the football field, or the field of battle, capable and comfortable in the arena of young warriors, but I remember Cody in a very different setting -- as a student of literature and writing.
He had been a student in one of the freshman English courses that I taught on the base at Ft. Campbell in the evenings. Many soldiers take advantage of the educational opportunities while they are enlisted. A college degree helps them advance in rank.
The course is an introduction to literature, and part of the freshman composition requirements for a bachelor's degree, so every student is required to take it. As you might imagine, many students don't look forward to the literature courses, especially military students who tend toward engineering, criminal justice or medical degrees rather than the liberal arts.
I've been teaching military students for about a dozen years now, and it's always fascinating to observe how soldiers deal with something so removed from the strict military structure of their everyday lives, where independent analysis and effective expression are not part of military training.
The interpersonal dynamics in the classroom change with each new class roll. My students come from all over the country, and each new group of 25 creates its own unique arc as the course progresses. Sometimes there is an Alpha personality, either female or male, who sets the tone as the class begins to develop its group dynamic. Sometimes the effect is good, sometimes not.
It was in this context that I had discussed Cody Prosser many times before he lost his life nearly three years ago.
Cody was different. Yes, he was the All-American boy, a handsome young football star who had become a perfect squared-away Army Green Beret, but, in reality, there are many young men, home-town heroes, who follow this same path. Like many of them, Cody was a leader, but it was the way he led that distinguishes him from all the rest. I don't know how Cody would have led soldiers in the theater of war, but I do know how he led a group of young men and women soldiers who found themselves in the unfamiliar territory of a college English class.
He was not a self-proclaimed leader, but a natural one. He led by example. You might expect him to be a serious young man focusing on serious work, but he had a fantastic sense of humor and he used it masterfully. He would strike the perfect balance, keeping us all entertained with his generous good humor and a moment later making a thoughtful and insightful comment on the literary text.
It was obvious that his classmates admired him. Not in the way that a Big Man on Campus might be admired, but the way that a soldier is admired and respected by his commrades. He was determined to excel at the work, so they also wanted to excel. He was able to gauge the boundaries and set a tone that allowed for some fun while still getting the job done, and they also wanted to keep their attitudes positive and their senses of humor at the ready as they worked toward their objectives.
It was really quite remarkable. That class stands out in my memory as one of the best, which, ironically, had little to do with my own contributions. It was one of those rare occassions in a teacher's life, when we stand at the front of a classroom and watch in amazement as a roomfull of minds open simultaneously, ideas flow, lightbulbs illuminate, and the class seems to teach itself.
It's an amazing experience, and I have to thank Cody Prosser for making it happen in that particular class. As I said, I've often told people how this young soldier led his classmates to one of the highest set of grades I've ever given. I remember thinking at the time that this young man would end up with lots of stars on his shoulders. Instead, he has a Bronze Star that he never saw.
I imagine that Cody, or his family, might not agree with many of the views I've expressed here, but I was compelled to share my vision of Cody after watching messages televised from soldiers in Iraq to their families back home, and from injured soldiers in the hospital to their units back on the battle fields.
From a hospital bed, a wounded soldier remembered a fallen commrade, and called him by name, "Cody." I don't know if he was talking about Cody Prosser, but from knowing Cody, even three years after his death, I would say that it probably was.
So, on Thanksgiving, I find myself adding a few items to my list of things for which I'm grateful. I'm thankful, of course, for the sacrifices made by our soldiers, but I'm also thankful for parents who raise their children to live with honor and integrity. I'm especially grateful to Cody's parents for instilling in him a deep sense of humility, a stoic grace and a generosity of spirit that will continue to inspire many people. Most of all, I'm thankful that, in my heart, I believe Cody would have been proud to sacrifice his long, promising future to the country that he loved so much, and that makes this one -- one of over a thousand -- a little easier to bear.
