Oxford Man Travels the US to Deliver Plaques to the Family of the 13 Service Members Killed in 2021 Kubal Attack

By Alyssa Schnugg

News editor

alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

Randy Corban has worked as a public servant for most of his adult life as a law enforcement officer, police chief and school resource officer.

He understands sacrifice and commitment to one’s hometown and country.

When 13 American service members were killed in a bomb attack in Kabul in August 2021, their deaths laid heavy on Corban’s heart.

“It was a divine thing,” Corban told Hotty Toddy News recently. “As soon as I learned of this tragic event, the Lord was just reaching out to me to do something for the families.”

In early 2022, with the help of his friend, Harry Sneed, Corban created a wooden plaque in the shape of Mississippi. On it, he carved a heart with “Oxford” on top. He then inscribed the name of each service member’s name, adding the words “So Others May Live” across the bottom.

But Corban didn’t just mail the plaques to the families – he and his wife, Karen, have traveled around the country to personally deliver the plaques to each family.

They have traveled to Texas, California, Missouri, Nebraska, Utah, Wyoming and most recently, Tennessee. They have a trip scheduled in October to go to Ohio where Corban will deliver another plaque.

Thus far, the Corbans have hand-delivered 10 plaques.

“I had hoped to do it all in one year, but that didn’t happen,” he said.

To find the families, Corban reaches out to city managers and law enforcement where the family lives.

“We make sure they’re receptive to it first and then set up a time and date to meet,” he said.

In cases where the parents of the service member were divorced and living separately, the Corbans delivered a plaque to each parent.

Corban spends a little time with the families if he can, learning about their lost loved one.

“It’s been really good to meet with them and pray with them,” Corban said. “I’ve been super impressed by how directed these service men and women were at such a young age and the remarkable things they accomplished leading up to them going into the service.”

Corban said the family members all appreciated the effort to remember their sons and daughters.

“Overall, it’s been a really great response,” he said.

Corban served with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics from 1974-1997. Then he worked as an investigator at the University of Mississippi Police Department before becoming Chief of Police from 2000 to 2005. He worked for Legal Studies at Ole Miss. He served as Law Enforcement Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District for 14 years. Today, he works part-time as a security officer at Regents School in Oxford.

He said he plans on making sure each family receives a plaque and will continue delivering them for as long as that takes.

Corban says he’s had a couple of people offer to donate to help cover travel expenses, but he has turned them down.

“My wife and I feel that if we can send our sons and daughters and family members across the world to serve, it’s the least that she and I can do is to travel around this country to honor them in some small way.”

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Names of service men and women who will killed in the attack:

• Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Tex.
• Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23, of Roseville, Calif.
• Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, 31, of Utah
• Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tenn.
• Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio, Calif.
• Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, 20, Jackson, Wyo.
• Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
• Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, 20, of Norco, Calif.
• Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan William-Tyeler Page, 23, of Omaha
• Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario, 25, Lawrence, Mass.
• Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, 22, Logansport, Ind.
• Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, 20, of Wentzville, Mo.
• Navy Hospital Corpsman Max Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio