Unique memorial for local Marine

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Friends of a fallen Marine from Rosanky are creating unique memorials to Lance Corporal Cody Stanley, killed Oct. 28 in Afghanistan.

Several friends and former classmates painted large signs with Stanley's name and placed them along several Bastrop County highways. One of the signs is at the intersection in Rosanky on Highway 304.

"We'll never forget him for sure - so we want everybody else to remember him too," said Cody's friend, Kyle Behrens. "It's the least we can do. He made the ultimate sacrifice and it's the least we can do."

Behrens' girlfriend, Kayleigh Goertz thought up the idea to place the signs all over Bastrop County.

"He would have done just as much or more for us if it were us," said Goertz.

The group put up three of the signs Sunday and have plans for many more before Cody's funeral on Friday.

"Every time somebody drives down here and passes by them they're going to think about him and that's what we're looking for," said lifelong friend and fellow Marine, Tyler Foerster. "We wanted everybody to remember him. He was a heckuva guy - just as good as they come."

Cody's friends found another surprise when they arrived to place the sign at the Rosanky intersection on Sunday. Someone had put American flags at the four corners of the intersection.

"That hit home and everybody was real appreciative of that," said friend Chase Dupuis.

A funeral service is scheduled for Friday morning at the First Baptist Church in Smithville.