KILLEEN, Texas - Police are investigating the end of Jed Paul "Cole" Naisbitt, a Fort Hood soldier from Ogden.
Killeen police officers responded to a subject of gunshots fired about 1 a.m. Saturday and found Naisbitt's body sitting in a car. Killeen is the city at the charm of the Central Texas Army Post.
"I'm devastated by it," said Jed Naisbitt, his father.
"It's never going to be OK with myself or family."
Police have not ruled on the nature of Naisbitt's death as of Monday but suspect it will be homicide, said Killeen Police Capt. Margaret Young.
He was very proud to be a soldier and loved to bear his uniform, his father said. Naisbitt did not make enemies, but he "could've been killed only because he was a soldier," his mother said.
Naisbitt was stationed at Fort Hood with the 1st Cavalry Division as a health care specialist. He joined the Usa in May 2007 and was deployed to Iraq from December 2008 to November 2009.
The Army recognized him as a decorated soldier, awarding him five medals and two ribbons during his 3 years of service.
His home and friends knew him by his nickname, Cole, and for his caring heart and daring spirit.
Jeremy Savage, of Ogden, met Naisbitt nine years ago, and from that day on it was one opportunity after another with him, Savage said, "whether it's skydiving with strippers in Las Vegas . or going fishing at 3 in the morning."
Savage said his friends fondly refer to them as the Crazy Cole Adventures.
They also remember his loving heart, especially for children.
Naisbitt was supposed to get home with an honorable discharge right before Christmas, Savage said, adding that Naisbitt was going to leave a new girl's Christmas wish list come true through a toy program, as he had no children of his own.
One of Savage's favorite photos of his friend is of him smiling ear to ear with a big group of children in Iraq. Savage's wife, Amanda, posted it to a Facebook page created to honor Naisbitt's memory.
"Cole really cared about every single one of us and that right there tells you the size of this (man's) heart," his friend Matt Montoya wrote on the page.
This is not the family's first meeting with tragic death.
Naisbitt was the nephew of Byron Cortney Naisbitt, who was a torture victim in the 1974 Hi-Fi murders in Ogden, Savage said. Byron Cortney Naisbitt survived the ordeal, but his mother, Carol Naisbitt, and two others did not.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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