Green Beret Remembered as 'Best of the Best'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Staff Sgt. 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, Calif., was killed Dec. 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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Master Sgt. Jefferson Donald Davis, 39, of Watauga, Tenn., and Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory of Cheshire, Mass., 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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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, Ky.