He trained as a combat engineer at Camp Lejeune. He came home for Christmas in 2003, then returned to Camp Pendleton. He was then deployed to Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom for seven months. Codner flew out to spend a few days with him before he left.
From Iraq, Kyle wrote letters and called frequently. “If our phone rang early in the morning, we knew it was him,” Codner said. She sent him boxes of food. One box of snickerdoodles arrived in crumbs, so she sent more, but that box came back.
On May 26, 2004, he and two other Marines were killed by a roadside bomb in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was 19 years old.
As the Codners mourned, friends sent food and surrounded them with kindness. Codner also found solace in support groups. “True friends lift you up when your wings forget how to fly,” she said.
Tributes followed. Their road off Highway 30, where Kyle learned to ride his bike and drive a car, was named the Kyle Codner Memorial Road. The Codners established scholarships in their son’s name for students at Shelton High School.
Kyle has been honored at golf tournaments. A banner with his photo is part of Grand Island’s Hometown Heroes display, which lasts from Memorial Day to Veterans Day each year.
Writing the book
Ten years ago, Codner and her husband, Wayne, sold their farm and moved to Grand Island. With daughter Melissa living in Montana, Codner began to worry that Kyle’s memory would fade into oblivion.
At first, she wasn’t sure quite what to do, but in 2024, 20 years after his death, Codner decided to write a children’s book about how an ordinary boy became a hero.
Dixie Codner, at right, greets people and signs her book at the Vietnam Brotherhood reunion Aug. 22 in Kearney.
MARY JANE SKALA, KEARNEY HUB
The story, told in rhyme, came easily to Codner, who is a retired librarian. Next, she searched for an illustrator and a publisher.