North Carolina Veteran Reminded SHE SERVED TOO

Female veteran shamed for parking in veterans-only spot 
By WNCN Staff
Published: January 20, 2015

Mary Claire Caine said she believes the “Wounded Vet” did not realize she was a fellow veteran because of her sex. “They have this image of what today’s American veteran is,” she said. (Photo credit: WECT)

WILMINGTON, N.C. – An Air Force veteran who served in Kuwait found a note on her car Friday criticizing her for parking in a veterans-only parking spot in Wilmington.

Mary Claire Caine told WECT-TV that she returned to her car from shopping at Harris Teeter to find a note plastered to her front window from a person identifying themselves as a “Wounded Vet.” It read,

“Maybe [you] can’t read the sign you parked in front of … This space is reserved for those who fought for America … not you. Thanks, Wounded Vet.” 

 Caine, who served in Kuwait and on the flight line of the F-117 Nighthawk, said her heart sank. 

“The first thing I felt was confusion that there was a mistake, and that I had to talk to this person and ask them why they were so quick to assume I wasn’t a veteran and that I was taking privileges that didn’t belong to me,” Caine said.
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King County North Carolina Changes Memorial

King approves new design for kneeling soldier silhouette
WXII 12 News
Jan 20, 2015

KING, N.C. —King City Council voted Tuesday to approve a new design of a kneeling soldier silhouette statue at the veterans memorial at Central Park.

The new design was approved two weeks after council voted 3-2 to settle a lawsuit regarding the memorial. Council voted to change the design pictured in this story by switching to an M-1 rifle and removing the boots.

The previous silhouette design showed a soldier kneeling in front of a cross.
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It is used all over the country like this one in Orlando.

Double Murder-Suicide Claims Lives of Veteran Family

Apple Valley Couple, Child Found in Apparent Murder-Suicide were Dead for Weeks
KSTP.com
By: Ellen Galles
Created: 01/19/2015

David Crowley, his wife Komel Crowley, and their 5-year-old daughter were found dead inside their Apple Valley home over the weekend. Apple Valley police say the case appears to be a murder-suicide.

David Crowley was a veteran of the U.S. Army, he served five years and left in 2009 to become a filmmaker. Komel Crowley was a registered dietician who ran her own business. One friend says they doted on their five-year-old daughter.

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Before death of family, Apple Valley filmmaker voiced struggles over project
Twin Cities.com
By Nick Ferraro
POSTED: 01/20/2015

A photo from David Crowley's Instagram account shows Crowley with his wife, Komel.

In the days leading up to his death, David Crowley still had hope that his independent film would pan out.

But Crowley, an Apple Valley filmmaker and screenwriter, also showed concern over the project -- "Gray State," a movie that the Army veteran scripted but had yet to film.

In an email to a prospective producer, Crowley wrote that the project was "now almost completely abandoned" by its original backers and that he was "exhausted from carrying and managing this burden for so many years."

"Maybe the work load got too crazy; I don't know the personal reasons, but at the end of it all here I am at the end of the tunnel all alone," he wrote to a Los Angeles first assistant director in an email obtained by the Pioneer Press. "The fans continue to gather, but they're frustrated and despondent. No one believes anymore."

Crowley reached out to Jason Allen in the Dec. 17 email, asking if he wanted to be an executive producer and help out with the logistics of the film project, which he started about four years ago and revolves around a plot of government conspiracy.

"Jason, you know exactly what to do with this," Crowley wrote.

Allen didn't get the opportunity to take Crowley up on his offer.

On Saturday, Apple Valley police found Crowley, 29; his wife, Komel, a 28-year-old dietitian; and their 5-year-old daughter, Rani, dead of gunshot wounds in what investigators are saying was a murder-suicide at the family's home in the 1000 block of Ramsdell Drive.
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Deputies Investigate After Marine Iraq Veteran Killed

Putnam residents mourn loss of coach, war vet 
First Coast News
Andrew Casasso
January 20, 2015

Deputies in Putnam County say Joe Wall was found dead around 10:00 Sunday night from a gunshot wound at his home on Landmark Avenue in San Mateo.

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -- Many in rural Putnam County the death of a little league coach and Iraq war veteran is a big loss to their community. read more here
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Greg Plitt Killed by Train in California

Greg Plitt

Greg Plitt, Army veteran and reality TV star, killed by train during filming
Washington Times
Cheryl K Churnley
January 19, 2015

Greg Plitt, a reality television show star and fitness model — and a veteran of the U.S. Army — was hit and killed by a train during filming in Southern California.

Plitt, 37, was being filmed on a track when a Metrolink train hit him, said Burbank Police Sgt. Scott Meadows, The Associated Press reported.

It’s not clear what was being filmed. But Plitt, a West Point graduate who served five years in the Army, has been on the cover of magazines more than 200 times and appeared on Bravo’s reality show “Work Out” and “Friends to Lovers,” AP said.
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