There are over 6,000 families spending this Thanksgiving with one less member

There are people getting ready to sit down to a big Thanksgiving feast today and planning where to go for Black Friday to get the best deals for Christmas shopping. They have very little room for thoughts of the people lining up to get a meal from volunteers holding off their own dinners to provide what very well may be the only good meal the poor will have all week.

Families gather together looking at all the food on the table and wondering who will be the first to start an argument or when the nasty one of the relatives will make some kind of remark making everyone uncomfortable.

There are also families across this country looking at an empty chair and wondering what they could have done differently so that the family member would be able to join them one more year.

When a serviceman or woman dies in combat, it seems a death to be honored but when they die because of suicide it is a death that leaves regret.

I know the feeling. Years ago my husband's nephew committed suicide. He was a Vietnam Vet with PTSD. I couldn't save him and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't help him. He didn't want to listen, but worse, he didn't want to talk. To this day I wonder what I could have done differently but more now, I wonder why he didn't do things differently. Why did he choose to try to hide his pain instead of asking for help from the VA doctors treating him? Why didn't he talk to my husband or to me instead of checking himself in a motel room with enough heroin to kill ten men? Why didn't he talk to his girlfriend or to his brother? Was he in so much pain that no one else mattered to him anymore?

There are over 6,000 families spending this Thanksgiving with one less member of the family because of combat and suicide. Those are just the numbers we know about since they had a VA claim and were tracked by the VA but there are more. The latest report is one veteran suicide every 80 minutes. The DOD has their own count but you have to add them up since the Marines have their numbers, the Army has their's and then the Reservists and National Guards numbers come in separately. If the man or woman are discharged, they are not on the DOD counts and if they do not have a VA claim, they are not on their counts either. They will and forever will be on the counts of the family members facing an empty chair.

I found this piece this morning and it offers some support for family members left behind. It is never easy when some dies due to natural causes but when you add in combat, while you may think about it happening due to the dangerous jobs they have, you are never really ready for it. When it comes to suicides after they are supposed to be out of danger, it is something that you are never really over but you can stop torturing yourself because of how they decided to end their suffering.

Santa Clara County averages one suicide every three days

By Mary Gottschalk

Posted: 11/23/2011
Suicide is central to the plot of that most popular holiday film It's A Wonderful Life. Shakespeare romanticized it in Romeo and Juliet, and to some extent, so did the life-ending choices of musician Kurt Cobain as well as writers Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Hunter S. Thompson.
It's never mentioned in obituaries or death notices, although it occurs on average once every three days in Santa Clara County.
In 2009, the last year for which complete statistics are available, 103 men and 42 women took their own lives here. Ages 45 to 64 had the highest rate, followed by ages 24 to 44. Only one person under the age of 14 died by suicide, but that jumped to nine in the age 15 to 19 group.
Suicide is a subject very few people are comfortable talking about, yet health care professionals say that is exactly what is needed if the numbers are to come down. It is something they believe needs to be talked about openly and freely.
"We had to practice talking about breast cancer. We had to practice talking about sexually transmitted diseases. If we can talk about Viagra, why can't we talk about suicide prevention?" asks Elena Tindall, suicide prevention coordinator for Santa Clara County.

"I would like survivors to know they will get through it and let the process of grief take place. They will come through to the other side of. Let other people help them through and they will make it through."
Coping skills for the bereaved
From Brad Leary and Jeannine Parsons, Hospice of the Valley and the Community Grief and Counseling Center.
• Reach out for help: See a qualified counselor or support group to help you process your feelings. You cannot do this alone.
• Express your feelings: You may feel sad, depressed, confused and angry. Anger is a feeling we try to hide from others because it doesn't show us in a positive light. Yet, you need to work through your feelings of anger, and there can be a sense of relief when doing so.
•Share memories of your loved one: Photos and videos can be helpful. Many bereaved clients fear forgetting their loved ones. By sharing memories you can ensure that they will live on. It is important to speak aloud the name of your loved one to others.
• Be gentle with yourself: If possible, reduce your hours at work. Surround yourself with those that comfort you. Steer clear of people who want to tell you what or how to feel.
• Set limits and learn to say no.
• Call on your personal faith.
• Write a letter to your loved one.
• Writing: journal, poetry, music.
• Remember the choice was not yours: No one is the sole influence on another's life.
• Try not to make sense of the suicide; you may never know "why." Ninety percent of people who complete suicide have a psychiatric disorder.
• Take one moment at a time.
• There is no universal time frame for healing, but you will move forward.
• Find meaning in your loss: This can be helpful after a significant period of time. You may choose to start a cause. One bereaved client started a bike ride for hope in honor of his daughter. Proceeds from the ride benefit counseling services in a local high school.
• You will never be the same again, but know you can survive. You may not think so, but you can.
read more here

The last part about finding meaning in your loss applies here. It made me want to work harder to save the lives of others.

‘Sick’ By ‘Call of Duty 3′ Commercials?

It looks like John Nolte is upset over a lot more than a series of Tweets from Luke Russert. Right here I need to mention that while I do know who Luke Russert is, I gave up watching cable news a long time ago. Occasionally I watch CNN and check their site along with the other "news" stations but if you read this blog often, it's pretty obvious I have little use for them. The reason is none of them are really paying much attention to the troops or our veterans yet their stories make the news in their hometown newspapers and TV stations news coverage every single day of the year. I guess they don't deserve the same kind of attention as political candidates or celebrities in the minds of producers, but it has been that way for a long time. The beginning of war is worth covering but they end up moving on soon afterwards. They want the two hour Hollywood ending to war, as gory and glorified as it can be. It would be their greatest joy if they could direct the ending of wars making sure they got there to capture it all on film and telling the generals to wait until they got set up. What happens to them is ignored unless something catastrophic happens and many of them die in the same event. What happens to them when they come home is also ignored unless one of them commits some type of crime. This all leaves the general public with the impression that what they see on the news is all there is.

MSNBC’s Luke Russert Is Made ‘Sick’ By ‘Call of Duty 3′ Commercials: ‘Doesn’t Reflect Costs of War’
by John Nolte
This is a good time to bring up something that’s been bothering me for a couple of years now. As someone who has made his way in the world all on my own and without the help of rich parents or family connections, do I resent the fact that Tim Russert’s son Luke has been shot by the cannon of nepotism into a job men twice his age and with ten times his experience only dream of?
Actually, no.
This is how the world works. Relationships matter and that’s life. I do, however, resent the fact that he’s not up to the job and that every time he’s on MSNBC talking about his Congressional beat I get “Bugsy Malone” flashbacks.
And just to keep the movie metaphors flowing, there’s also that whole “Vertigo” vibe, where Luke is Kim Novak and MSNBC is the sad and twisted Jimmy Stewart trying to creepily recreate someone they lost by dressing some wannabe up to look just like them. Whatever’s going on between MSNBC and Luke Russert. it’s not healthy.
And what better proof of that than this series of sanctimonious tweets from Russert where he laments how “sick” a video game commercial makes him feel because it doesn’t “reflect the costs of war”:

read more here

Anyway back to this piece that really got my attention this morning. I have no clue who John Nolte is. Frankly, after reading this, I don't want to know who he is. "Call of Duty" commercials make me sick too just as when this video game first came out. It bothers me because so many people in this country can spend hour after hour playing this game of war but can't seem to spend a couple of minutes paying attention to the real ones going on. They can score points by killing people and then replay to have them alive again, but that isn't real life. They don't know how many real servicemen and women have died or lost limbs anymore than they know about how many committed suicide when they got back home and couldn't stop replaying the real life action in their minds.

The other thing is that the men and women serving in real combat are the same age as most of the people playing these war video games. Most go into the military right out of high school. This is why I am sick of the games played and the commercials for them. John Nolte seems more troubled by the fact that Luke Russert has his job and just used this to attack him instead of the problem stations like MSNBC really have. The fact that they just don't care enough about what is really going on in real life for the men and women serving this country today or the veterans who served it yesterday. I resent the fact that people will take the opportunity to use the military when they want to make a point that has nothing to do with them.

'He wanted to die'

COUPLE: Justin Crowley-Smilek with his girlfriend, Destiny Cook, in a photo she provided.

Contributed photo

'He wanted to die'
Justin Crowley-Smilek’s girlfriend says he left home Saturday not planning to return
By Doug Harlow
Staff Writer
November 23
FARMINGTON -- Justin Crowley-Smilek left his apartment Saturday morning without his wallet, his watch or his cellphone.

Justin Crowley-Smilek, who was shot to death by a police officer near that spot on Saturday.

His girlfriend, Destiny Cook, who had stayed with him Friday night, said she now believes Crowley-Smilek knew he would not be coming back Saturday.

She said she believes he had intended to die that morning -- one way or the other.

A short time after he left home, Crowley-Smilek, 28, a former U.S. Army Ranger who suffered from combat stress and physical injuries from service in Afghanistan, was dead; shot multiple times by a police officer outside the Farmington municipal offices on U.S. Route 2.

Police Chief Jack Peck said Officer Ryan Rosie, who shot the former soldier, was countering deadly force with deadly force. Crowley-Smilek had a knife and acted in a threatening way toward the police officer, Peck said.

Cook said Crowley-Smilek wanted to settle down, raise his own food and start a family. He was buying a house in Mount Vernon, but had become increasingly paranoid in recent weeks and suffered from constant and severe back pain, she said.

It all finally caught up with him.
read more here

This holiday, troops in Afghanistan thankful for surviving IED blast

This holiday, troops in Afghanistan thankful for surviving IED blast
By MARTIN KUZ
Stars and Stripes
Published: November 23, 2011
GOSHTA, Afghanistan — Pfc. Derick Vinton was looking forward to lunch as he drove an armored vehicle back to his platoon’s base last month near this village five miles from Pakistan.

That’s when the earth snarled and ripped open.

An 80-pound IED buried in the dirt road detonated beneath the truck’s passenger side. The front wheels heaved upward several feet before landing with a violent stomp. Dust swallowed the cab as the air inside went black.

Vinton, 19, of Riverton, Wyo., heard only silence on his radio headset. A long moment passed. Then yelling erupted. The other three men in the truck were alive.

The four soldiers climbed out of the crippled vehicle. One had suffered a concussion; two had minor leg injuries. Vinton was unhurt.
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Half Naked Man Drives Up Indiana War Memorial

Half Naked Man Drives Up Indiana War Memorial: Police Arrest Daniel Whitaker For Terroristic Mischief

State Police arrested an Indianapolis man on Tuesday after he allegedly drove his SUV up the steps of the Indiana War Memorial, wrapped himself in an American flag, and lit a small fire.

Officials identified the half-naked protester as 49-year-old Daniel Whitaker, WTHR reports.

Whitaker, who described himself to police as a member of the "Texas army," placed a large cross on the memorial, which he briefly stood before while wearing a metal helmet fashioned with a plume and carrying a bright blue staff, police said.

Police also said that once Whitaker drove up the memorial, he poured a canister of gasoline down the steps and lit a fire, WSBT reports.
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Jack Daniel's Funds Travel Expenses for Fort Campbell Soldiers

Jack Daniel's Funds Travel Expenses for Soldiers
Published November 23, 2011
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn.-- Tennessee whiskey maker Jack Daniel's is donating more than $100,000 to pay for plane tickets and travel funds for soldiers at Fort Campbell, Ky., to spend the December holiday season with their families all over the country.

The distiller is also asking the public to make additional contributions that could help hundreds of cash-strapped soldiers who otherwise would be stuck at the post on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line. Donations can be made to the Operation Ride Home campaign online at www.jdoperationridehome.com.

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Army disputes Occupy Buffalo Veteran's service

Army Records at Odds With Occupy Vet's Claims
November 23, 2011
Buffalo News
by Stephen T. Watson
The claims of a dedicated member of the Occupy Buffalo movement that he saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan are not supported by Army records.

Christopher M. Simmance has told several media outlets, including The Buffalo News, that he served as many as three tours of duty in those war zones and that he was severely injured in Afghanistan.

Service records obtained from the Army, however, show he was stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., for three years and he left the active-duty Army in January 2001 -- before the 9/11 terror attacks.

Simmance insists his Army records are incomplete. He told The News he stands by his claims of seeing combat.

"Everything I've told you is completely true; I've got nothing to hide," Simmance said in one of three interviews.
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Fallen Soldier's Remains Return To Longwood Florida

Fallen Soldier's Remains Return To Fla.

Funeral Set For Next Wednesday

POSTED: 1:24 pm EST November 18, 2011


ORLANDO, Fla. -- The body of a local soldier who was killed in Afghanistan returned to Central Florida on Friday.

The Department of Defense said 25-year-old Army Pfc. Theodore B. Rushing died on Veterans Day in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.

He suffered fatal wounds when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
Rushing was going to follow his father's footsteps and become a police officer, but once he joined the army, he told his dad that he'd found a new career.

"He liked the fact that he was able to give back to his country that had given so much back to him. He liked the fact that he was a Calvary scout, out front paving the way for everybody else," said Rushing's father, Rick Rushing, on Friday.

Members of the Orlando Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff's Office escorted Rushing's remains to the funeral home.

The funeral is scheduled for next Wednesday. A viewing is set for Saturday at the Baldwin Fairchild Funeral Home on Lake Ivanhoe.

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Iraq war veteran J.R. Martinez now 'Dancing' champ

Iraq war veteran J.R. Martinez now 'Dancing' champ
(AP) LOS ANGELES — J.R. Martinez started out as the least-known member of the "Dancing With the Stars" cast, but as the season went on, America fell in love with the 28-year-old soldier-turned-soap opera star.

"Dancing" draws 18 million viewers a week who got a firsthand look at the Iraq war veteran with the infectious positive attitude. They heard his story: How he was severely burned over more than 40 percent of his body when the Humvee he was driving for the U.S. Army struck a land mine, how he underwent numerous surgeries over years of recovery — then they saw him dancing like that had happened to somebody else. The 28-year-old actor and motivational speaker radiates joy.

"You've got such a sparkling personality, you just light up this room," ''Dancing" judge Len Goodman said.

Earlier this month, Martinez was chosen as grand marshal of the 123rd annual Tournament of Roses parade. He was on the cover of People magazine and named one of its "sexiest men" a few weeks later. And on Tuesday, he became the new "Dancing With the Stars" champion.

From Vietnam to Afghanistan, soldier still serving

Almost 60 and Still a Soldier
By Conor Powell
Published November 22, 2011
FoxNews.com


KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Most men at the age of 59 are planning for retirement, but Staff Sgt. Don Nicholas is no ordinary man. He wants to re-enlist in the U.S. Army and stay a soldier as long as he can.

A Vietnam veteran, Nicholas is the oldest soldier serving on the front lines in Afghanistan.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, Sgt. Nic, as he is affectingly called by younger soldiers, re-enlisted in the military.

“It was the right thing to do,” he says. “It’s as simple as that. I just didn’t want everyone else out there doing things I should be doing.”

A former Marine rifleman with two tours under his belt in Vietnam, including one at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon as enemy troops moved into the capital city, Nicholas thought he could faithfully rejoin their ranks.

But the Marines rejected his application. So he turned to the only other unit that offered him a chance to see combat – the U.S. Army.
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Fort Benning Soldier Claims He Was Predatory Lending Victim

Ga. Soldier Claims He Was Predatory Lending Victim

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press
SAVANNAH, Ga. November 22, 2011 (AP)
Army Staff Sgt. Jason Cox says he borrowed $3,000 for an emergency trip to pick up his daughter. The loan ended up costing him more than $4,000 in interest, plus a sport utility vehicle the lender seized when he defaulted.

Now the Fort Benning soldier is suing the lender in federal court, contending the interest rate and other terms violated a 2007 law passed by Congress to protect military service members from predatory lending.

Cox's lawyer, former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, is trying to persuade a federal judge to grant class-action status because the lender, Atlanta-based Community Loans of America Inc., operates more than 900 stores in 22 U.S. states. Barnes believes numerous soldiers have taken out similar loans, likely without knowing the terms are illegal, though it's not clear how many.

"The rates are so lucrative for those that ignore the law," said Barnes, a Democrat who pushed a statewide crackdown on high-interest payday loans when he was governor from 1999 to 2002. Some in the military are too busy with moves between bases and overseas deployments to bring lawsuits or complain, Barnes said.
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Iraq veteran says ‘There Are Things Worth Paying For’

This is something I've been trying to point out for a very long time.

“I’m not going out there to talk about I’m a Democrat, I’m a Republican, or anything like that. I’m going out there to talk about issues,” he said.

I wish people in this country had the same attitude when they voted. This blog is up for this same reason. Back in 2007 I was operating another blog, full of information but it also had my political views. Back then I was one of those people thinking "I know everything" and I was out to prove it. I opened an email from a Marine saying that he came into that blog for information and support but he didn't want to read my political rants. Well, still so full of myself, I replied defending what I wrote and why I wrote it. He responded with a very short email back with one question. "Are you doing this for us or for yourself?" I cried. He opened my eyes and I realized I had fallen into the political abyss. I replied by telling him that from that point on I would have a blog for them and keep my political views out of it. Most of the time I succeed and limit the "rants" to when a politician (from both sides) votes against the troops or veterans. I will admit that once in a while I do "pop my cork" and get carried away, but I'm getting better at controlling that.

Politicians say what they want, but it is what they do that really matters. When it comes to the troops and veterans, what really matters is they do it everyday and risk their lives for each other. I'll take those values any day over what has been happening in this country for far too long.

Candidate: ‘There Are Things Worth Paying For’

Chris Miller, a decorated Iraq War veteran who’s now running for Congress as a Democrat in Illinois, is watching budget wrangling in Washington with special knowledge about what Pentagon cuts mean.

President Obama has vowed to repeal any attempt to mitigate the cuts that isn’t part of a broader deficit deal.

On ABC’s “Top Line” today, Miller, D-Ill, said he’s not sure that’s the right strategy.

“We have to take a careful look at making any cuts, especially to the military,” said Miller, who served nine years in the Army and received a Purple Heart for injuries sustained in Iraq. “I don’t think that this world is gonna become a safer place or a place that we have to stop worrying about defending just because we’re having budgetary issues.”

“The problems that we have are not — they’re not simply going away, and we need to think about that and things in that context of there’s things that are worth paying for. And I believe that national security is one of them.”

Miller, who’s running for an open House seat in southern Illinois, said his message on the trail is “jobs, jobs, and jobs.”

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Reward offered in fatal shooting of Vietnam vet in Lauderdale

Reward offered in fatal shooting of Vietnam vet in Lauderdale

By Ihosvani Rodriguez, Sun Sentinel
5:24 p.m. EST, November 21, 2011

FORT LAUDERDALE—
Broward Crime Stoppers on Monday issued a $1,000 reward in the hopes of turning up leads in the killing of a man described as his neighborhood's "go to" guy.

Nelson Heck, 66, a Vietnam veteran and retired Florida Power & Light Co. worker, was found fatally shot on Nov. 15 inside his home along the 1100 block of Northwest 48th Street.

Fort Lauderdale police investigators hope the reward will generate more information in the case, said Detective Travis Mandell.
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Two Tour Iraq veteran Sgt. Shane Scott Pease found dead in creek

NEWS
Man found dead in Chapel Hill creek served in Iraq
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2011 (Updated 5:09 am)
By THE HERALD-SUN OF DURHAM
CHAPEL HILL — The man who was found dead in Bolin Creek Saturday morning was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division who served two tours of duty in Iraq.


The Chapel Hill Police Department was mum Monday on an investigation into the death of 24-year-old Sgt. Shane Scott Pease, who was found dead in the creek by a jogger, but in a press release from the 82nd Airborne, Pease was identified as an infantryman in Company A, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
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'Dream Come True.' Florida soldier becomes US citizen, HS graduate

'Dream Come True.' Florida soldier becomes US citizen, HS graduate

Story by Capt. Kyle Key

OCALA, Fla. -- Coming to America was easy, but the journey to stay here was paved with struggle for Pvt. Angel E. Chavez and his family.

Pvt. Chavez grew up in Panama in the city of La Chorrera and dreamed of coming to the United States some day.

“I would tell my friends in elementary school,” said Chavez. “They used to laugh at me. I would tell them, I am going there one day and I’m going to make it.”

In 2005, Chavez arrived in the United States with his parents and three siblings. They settled in Ocala, Fla., where his father started a business repairing and exporting vehicles to Panama and his mother found a job as a cosmetologist. He and his siblings were doing well in school and were adjusting to their new lives when a big problem arose: their visas expired and their entire family was subject to deportation.

The Chavez family tried every legal avenue to stay in the country. The dishonor of being illegal immigrants wore on the children. By 2008, his mother divorced and remarried a U.S. citizen and shocked the family by disappearing for two years with her new husband.
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Ocala Iraq veteran has new home for this Thanksgiving

Veteran Receives New Home

David Calhoun Ready To Celebrate Thanksgiving In New Home

POSTED: 2:42 pm EST November 21, 2011


OCALA, Fla. -- A veteran who was wounded and saved the life of a fellow soldier will be receiving a home for him and his family this Thanksgiving.

David Calhoun and his family were given a home as a gift from the Military Warriors Support Foundation and JPMorgan Chase.

"It's beautiful," said Calhoun. "I never thought I would have my own house."

Calhoun was told he was selected for the enormous gift on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, at halftime of a New York Jets game on NBC.

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DoD studies social media’s impact on deployment

DoD studies social media’s impact on deployment
By Mike Chalmers - The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal
Posted : Tuesday Nov 22, 2011 10:28:28 EST
In previous deployments to Iraq and South America, Master Sgt. Clifford Snyder relied on letters and brief phone calls to keep in touch with his wife and three children back in Camden, Del.

“The kids grew so much during those times,” Snyder said. “You felt when you first got home like a visitor in the house.”

But during his most recent six-month deployment to Iraq in 2009 and 2010, he checked in with them on Facebook and video-chatted with them on Skype almost daily.

“I got to see the kids, and they were able to give me updates on how school was going and stuff,” Snyder said. “I felt like I was there for the whole time.”

That nearly constant connection made his deployment with with Delaware Air National Guard more bearable and eased his homecoming transition, Snyder said. It’s having the same effect for thousands of service members and their families around the world.
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Former military leaders bash GOP candidates

Former military leaders bash GOP candidates
By Henry C. Jackson - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Nov 21, 2011 18:55:07 EST
WASHINGTON — Three former top military officials slammed the Republican presidential field ahead of Tuesday night’s GOP debate on foreign policy. The Democratic-leaning former officials said the entire Republican field has been all over the map but focused on GOP front-runner Mitt Romney.

“My concern would be that he might not be credibly decisive,” Richard Danzig, who served as Navy secretary under President Bill Clinton, said of Romney on Monday. “There’s too much of a track record here of moving between positions.”

Danzig said President Barack Obama has shown the required decisiveness throughout his presidency.
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Marine back from Afghanistan sets fire to Vietnam Vet Marine's flag

Marine Accused of Torching Fellow Marine's Flag
By Mike Valerio / Reporter

UPDATED: 10:59 am EST November 22, 2011
JACKSONVILLE -- A Camp Lejeune Marine is accused of setting a retired Marine's American flag on fire Friday, during a party celebrating the suspect's return from Afghanistan.

Vernon Johnson, 24, was charged Saturday with first degree arson by the Jacksonville Police Department. According to neighbors, Johnson was with friends next door to Purple Heart recipient Robert Grafton, 71. Witnesses said Johnson was intoxicated, and torched Grafton's American flag hanging from his porch flagpole.
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Expert: Post-traumatic stress misunderstood

Expert: Post-traumatic stress misunderstood
By Doug Harlow dharlow@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

FARMINGTON -- A former chief judge and chairman of the U.S. Board of Veterans Appeals said Monday that after decades of war, Americans still do not understand post-traumatic stress disorder.

Charles Cragin, of Raymond, who in 2009 was appointed chairman of a study commission on Gulf War I veterans, commented Monday following the shooting death Saturday morning of former U.S. Army Ranger Justin Crowley-Smilek.

"No one outside of the military and Department of Veterans Affairs is trained to deal with these sorts of issues because America has just become so disconnected from its military," Cragin said. "There are stories behind these young men and women who are coming home."

Crowley-Smilek, 28, who served in Afghanistan, was shot by Farmington police Officer Ryan Rosie outside the Farmington municipal building on U.S Route 2. Crowley-Smilek had called the police dispatch center from a telephone in front of the building. When Rosie came outside, Crowley-Smilek came at him in a threatening manner with a knife and was shot, police said.

Crowley-Smilek's father, Michael Smilek, said his son had come home from the war with severe combat stress. He suffered from bouts of substance use and had frequent problems with police as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder, his father said.

Autopsy results released Monday by the Office State Medical Examiner's show Crowley-Smilek died Saturday from multiple gun shot wounds. Brenda Kielty, spokeswoman for the Office of Attorney General, which is investigating the shooting, said the investigation into the shooting has not been completed.
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