Spc. Cody Ford's grave memorial replaced after theft and heartbreak

Battle cross again graces soldier's grave
Authorities say suspects' trail has gone cold
By BRIAN ROGERS
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 8, 2009, 8:51PM
Philip Ford's blood begins to boil as he talks about the thieves who desecrated his son's grave and stole the bronzed battle cross commemorating the ultimate sacrifice made by Cody Ford, a 21-year-old U.S. Army specialist who was killed in Iraq.

“This is not about me. This is not about the family. This is about the inconsiderate people who took this monument,” Philip Ford said Saturday at the dedication ceremony of a new battle cross — a helmet perched on a rifle above Cody Ford's boots, welded together and bronzed — on a stone base.

“I hope Cody haunts them for the rest of their lives. They will answer to the Almighty God after that,” he said.

More than 50 people, including several veterans, turned out to see the monument unveiled.

A member of the 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry (Airborne), Cody Ford was riding in a Humvee that drove over an improvised explosive device on Dec. 10, 2006. He was killed along with two other soldiers, Sgt. Brennan C. Gibson, 26, of Tualatin, Ore., and Pfc. Shawn M. Murphy, 24, of Fort Bragg, N.C.

Standing in Gulf Prairie cemetery in Jones Creek, a small town 60 miles south of Houston, Philip Ford cried as he spoke about his son and the people who donated money and time to replace the 5-foot-tall sculpture, which was stolen in late January.
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