Hometown: Lafayette, IN
Branch: U.S. Army 
Unit: 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, AK
Military Honors: Purple Heart, Bronze Star
Date of Sacrifice: April 12, 2007 - KIA in Baghdad, Iraq
Age: 22
Conflict: Iraq War, 2003-2011

Born in Lafayette, Indiana, Cody Putman was the youngest of three children and a gifted athlete. He graduated from Twin Lakes High School in Monticello (north of Lafayette) in 2003.

Putman continued his family’s tradition of military service by enlisting in the U.S. Army in March of 2005. According to his parents, Cody saw the Army as an opportunity to serve his country—and as an avenue to attend college.

He went through Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Putman then completed U.S. Army Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was assigned to a permanent duty station at Fort Richardson, Alaska with the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

Cpl. Putman married his high school sweetheart, Mollie, in September of 2006 at St. James Lutheran Church in Lafayette, where they were members.

As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Cpl. Putman was assigned to a Forward Operating Base in Baghdad, Iraq. On April 12, 2007, just six months after his wedding, Putman had completed a night mission and returned to the base. A suicide bomber in a truck full of explosives headed toward the compound. While a lookout was able to kill the driver, the truck kept moving and was detonated remotely by the enemy. The lookout, two interpreters, and Cpl. Putman were killed when the building they were in collapsed. He was 22 years old.

Ten days earlier, Putman had been home on leave and enjoyed a brief Florida vacation with his wife and their young daughter.

For his service to his country, Cpl. Cody A. Putman was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

Sources
Details submitted by Ms. Pamela Mow, Cpl. Putman’s Gold Star Mother
Card photo provided by the family
Military Times: Honor the Fallen
Fallen Heroes Project: Cody A Putman
WTHR.com: Family remembers fallen Hoosier soldier
The Exponent: Lafayette soldier killed Thursday leaves behind young daughter, stunned family
Together We Served: Putman, Cody Andrew, CPL
Fold3 (Ancestry) Putman, Cody Andrew, CPL
Find a Grave: Find a Grave